


Timeless

by Nathalaia



Series: Timeless [1]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-11
Updated: 2014-05-07
Packaged: 2017-11-09 14:43:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/456664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nathalaia/pseuds/Nathalaia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronald disappears one day, leaving behind no trail. William, Grell, Eric and Alan must find him, and without telling anybody; doing so would leave Ronald to suffer the consequences. But can they find him within the 21-days limit?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Rated 'Mature' for a reason! I chose not to have any warnings, however, as I feel it would ruin the story. I do not know if the story need to be rated 'Explicit', so... Tell me if it does, when the time comes.  
> This story is complete with seven chapters in total. They will be uploaded soon.  
> The HTML or whatever it is, is damn annoying. Therefore, there are places in this where there might need an... 'Enter'. I just cannot change it... I will see to it, but for now, it'll be like this.  
> Either way, look! A Kuroshitsuji fanfic for you all~ And not cliché. I think. Hope you like it.  
> I am still new to this whole fanfiction-thingy, so bare over with me. Also, do notice that I am not from an English-speaking country. And I am not used to this site, so... Yeah.  
> If you find any mistakes, do tell me. I would appreciate it very much.  
> I haven't thought about when this story takes place. Mmmh… Maybe after the newest chapter of Kuroshitsuji? School-thing.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing and am very happy by stating that fact; I couldn't have made as awesome a person as Grell~ Besides, I couldn't even draw if my life depended on it.

“When you’re done with that, do say so. Then I’ll give you something else to do.”

Ronald looked up from the papers in his hand and grinned. “Of course, Boss. Leave it to me!”

William’s answer was a short nod before he turned his focus back to his own work.

Ronald kept his gaze on William for a minute or so, deep in thought. Then William glanced up and raised one of his eyebrows slightly.

“Is there something wrong, Mr. Knox?”

Ronald quickly averted his eyes. “Not at all! Sorry.” He could still feel William’s eyes on him for about five seconds before he, apparently, decided to leave it and continue his work in silence.

Ronald sighed inwardly and turned his focus to where it should be; the papers.

For the moment he was in William’s private office, seated at the end of same person’s desk, with the other seated barely an arm’s length from him.

William’s office was a smaller and closed off room in the main office, held in casual colours. Mostly white, black and different nuances of grey.

Being supervisor had its peaks; William got his own office, though there were windows in one of the walls right in front of the desk, so that he could keep an eye on his officers when he wanted to; when he didn’t, he could just cover the windows with curtains.

The room itself wasn’t _that_ large, but it wasn’t small either. A desk with one chair, a table with two chairs – one of which Ronald sat on – a large bookshelf and a lamp – humans were far behind in technology.

Ronald shook his head slightly and glanced at William again. Why he had fallen for his cold boss was beyond his imagination. The man rarely spoke anything other than work-related things to him, and that wasn’t even often. And usually it was only a sentence or two.

Suddenly said boss lifted his head, nearly stopping Ronald’s heart from beating. When he noticed that William wasn’t looking at him, though, but seemed to be listening, Ronald let out a soft breath of air and concentrated on whatever William was listening to.

Fast approaching steps could be heard. _Clack, clack, clack_. Heels. They both dreaded what – _who_ – was to come; they would recognize those heels any time. Only one person…

“Will~!” The door to the office was slammed open and a beaming Grell waltzed in. “I missed you~! Oh, and Ronnie!”

Grell Sutcliff. Troublemaker and sanity’s enemy number 1. The man – who firmly believed he was a woman – was the most wicked, annoying person Ronald knew in the whole Dispatch Department. And he knew _many_ of the other shinigami.

Grell was friendly enough and all that, but he tended to overdramatize the _smallest_ things and had a temper worse than Mother Nature. He also had a sickly fascination of the colour red. This was probably also one of the reasons he liked blood. Actually, he was pretty violent when he wanted to be.

Despite all that, Grell was still Ronald’s friend. And a close one, too.

“Sutcliff,” William said coolly and pointed his death scythe at him, it being the only thing that held the psycho from hugging him. “I take it you finished the assignment I gave you?”

“Of course!” Grell smiled and poked the pruning pole tentatively. “All the souls are collected.”

“Good. Then go and write the reports.”

“But Will~!” the red-head whined. “I don’t want any paperwork! It’s only another way to die a painful and slow _death_!” The last word was emphasized with a higher pitch and his trademark pose. 

“Off you go, Sutcliff,” William said and ignored his whining. “Now, before I hurt your face.”

“You’re no fun…” Grell pouted and crossed his arms. “So cold. Oh! But _one_ glare from you leaves me hot and _craving_ ~!”

“Get. Out,” William said and poked Grell’s forehead using his death scythe.

Grell uttered a cry and hurried outside with a remark about how cruel William was and how he was _absolutely no fun_.

Ronald saw Grell sit down at his desk, smack his heels up on the table and casually lean backwards, giving his red-polished nails an once-over. He wouldn’t get any work done for today, that much was sure.

“Honestly…” William murmured and readjusted his glasses, having also watched Grell. 

Ronald allowed himself a smile before returning to his work. They worked in silence in about half an hour, before Grell decided that it was _way_ too boring to sit out there without any company and therefore waltzed inside again.

“Will~! It’s _so_ boring! Can’t I collect more souls? You know-“

“No,” William said sternly and watched Grell like a hawk; any sudden movement and his death scythe would smack the redhead’s head. “Do your _work_. You haven’t moved a _finger_ since you came.” Grell opened his mouth, only for William to speak up again: “ _Work_. Not your nails. Looking at your nails doesn’t count as moving a finger. It’s regarding work, and nothing else.”

“But Will~!” Grell cried and pouted, crossing his arms. “I told you countless times: Work and I aren’t a good combination.”

“We know…” Ronald muttered, finally joining the conversation instead of listening and looking. “You always blackmail me into doing yours.”

Grell smirked, flashing his shark-like teeth. “But Ronnie! I’m a woman. A woman shouldn’t be forced to do unnecessary work.”

“Quiet both of you,” William interrupted and looked at them, adjusting his glasses. “Sutcliff, I want the reports in half an hour. If you aren’t done by then, you’ll get overtime. Mr. Knox, continue with your own, too.”

“Yes, Boss,” Ronald murmured, stealing a glance at William before looking down at the papers.

“Give up on flirting with him, Sutcliff. He doesn’t have any feelings,” a voice sounded from the door. Three heads turned and saw the two standing in the doorway, one smirking slightly and another wearing a calm expression.

“Mr. Slingby, Mr. Humphries,” William nodded slightly at them. “Done with your assignments too, I take it.”

“We are, Mr. Spears,” Alan said softly and handed William his and Eric’s work.  
Grell scoffed at Eric. “He is a softy, believe me. Inside that cold shell is a romantic- Gah! Watch where you point that thing! It almost scratched my face!“

William pulled his scythe back with a cool face and looked the three over. “Mr. Humphries, Mr. Slingby, Sutcliff, go make your reports. You have an hour. Except for _you_ , Sutcliff. Half an hour. No more. Off you go.”

“Kid,” Eric grinned, having first noticed Ronald now. Alan looked over his shoulder, smiling slightly at

Ronald. “Sitting in the boss’ office again, eh?”

Ronald grinned back and raised the papers slightly for Eric to see it. “Yeah. Work, as you see.”

Eric just smirked and headed out together with Alan. Grell went too, though only after having tried to hug William, just to be smacked on the head by that person’s scythe.

Ronald finished the papers and rose from the chair, handing them to William who nodded at him. Then he went outside to the three others, seeing Grell sitting as before, doing absolutely nothing. In fact, Alan was the only one who seemed to be working, but just barely, given that Eric was busy distracting him.

Ronald sat on his own desk and greeted the three.

“Ronnie~!” Grell whined. “How come only you can stay in Will’s office without getting kicked out? It’s not fair!”

“We all wonder…” Eric murmured and was slapped on his arm by Alan.

“Be nice,” the brunette scolded softly.

Eric just grinned and kissed Alan gently. “Yeah, yeah, sweetheart.”

“Oh~! Isn’t that just romantic, Ronnie?” Grell sighed.

Ronald smiled faintly and looked at the two. How he wished he was in their place. But then again, he couldn’t imagine him and William being like Alan and Eric. Maybe because William rarely, if ever, showed feelings. He was always calm and collected.

He shook his head slightly. William _had_ to have feelings. It was just about pushing the right buttons…

“What are you thinking, Ronnie?” Grell asked, though he looked incredibly smug. “Thinking about something special? Or… _Someone_ special?” Ah. That explained the smug look. 

Eric’s smile widened and he turned his gaze to Ronald. “Someone, huh? Who might that _someone_ be?”

“None of your business,” Ronald murmured and looked at the two.

Alan looked up from the papers and smiled at Ronald. “Mh. I think everyone in this room knows.”

Eric laughed and patted Ronald on the shoulder. “Keep trying, kid. You may have more luck than Sutcliff.”

“Hey!” Grell exclaimed. “Will loves me, he just needs to face it.”

“Yeah, right…” Ronald muttered and sent Grell a grin when he growled.

The first person to figure out Ronald’s crush on William was Grell. And it hadn’t taken long time for him to see it. He had then told Alan, who had already figured it out by the time he said it, and Eric, who had suspected it. 

“Well guys, I’ll be heading home now,” Ronald said and hopped down from the desk. He saluted them and grinned, before he turned around, grapping his jacket on his way.

“At 9am tomorrow morning, Mr. Knox,” William’s voice sounded from his office. “Be there at sharp, or you’ll be sorry.”

“Whatever you say, Boss!” Ronald smiled and gave a wave, hoping he hadn’t heard what the three others had said. He probably hadn’t. He wasn’t one for gossip. He most likely just saw him about to leave and spoke up then.

On his way out he greeted some of his friends – mostly young women. He also sent each and every of them a charming smile. Now, if there was only _one_ other who would find his smiles as charming…

Ronald frowned when he made it outside. It was raining. Great. He sped up, still with a frown adorning his face. How could he make William notice him in the way _he_ wanted him to? No matter what he did, William would remain as cold as ever – not that Ronald had tried the obvious, like, for instance, grabbing the taller shinigami’s neat necktie and smash their lips together. No, doing that probably wasn’t the way to melt William’s heart – if he had one, that is. Many of Ronald’s friends would often make a remark about how William’s heart was made of ice, or simply didn’t exist.

Ronald didn’t agree with them on that; he believed everyone had a heart, even William. The trouble was _melting_ that heart.

He always turned in work in time, not only because he hated overwork, but because he didn’t want William to think of him as some idiot like, per say, Grell, who seldom – if ever – did any of his work.

Ronald sighed and skipped down a side street.

Not only did he always do his work on time, he sometimes even asked William if he wanted any help. William had been sceptical at first, but had gotten used to it over time – how long was it? A couple of years? – now only giving Ronald a slight wave and a stack of paper that needed filling.

Ronald believed that William at least didn’t hate him. If Grell had been the one to ask, William would have shut him up halfway through his sentence with a glare and a calm “Get out, Sutcliff, and start doing your _own_ work as a start.”

The young reaper sighed softly and ran a hand through his now wet hair. He had more than once wondered if William already had a girlfriend (or boyfriend), but the thought seemed absurd. The thought of William having anyone – besides Ronald, of course – was simply… Weird.

Then again, William probably didn’t even swing that way. A male with a male. Ronald had often thought about that, and-

A different presence in the air made Ronald stop dead in his tracks. It was the feeling of a demon, and too close, that is.

Ronald just managed to spin around on his heels to meet the red eyes of a demon, before he was pushed backwards and pinned to a wall.

“Ronald Knox, isn’t it?” the demon said quietly, leaning towards him so that Ronald could feel its breath on his ears.

“Demon,” Ronald hissed and gave the demon a discreet once-over. It was definitely a _he_ , with broad shoulders, a slim body and long limbs. Its hair seemed to be a dark brown, but with the rain – and darkness – it was difficult to say for sure.

“You are one of Spears’ officers, aren’t you?” the demon said. It was asked like a question, though he looked like he already knew. How the hell had the demon known his name anyway?

“What is that to you?” Ronald asked cautiously, alarmed at how the demon smirked and took a lock of Ronald’s hair between his thump and middle finger, fiddling with it. 

“Ronnie, huh…” the demon said, smile widening, eyes turning to meet Ronald’s glare. “I know a lot about you, young reaper. It must be my lucky day; my prey is alone in a deserted area of the city, in a side street, with nowhere to run, and no one to call for help. Not even your precious boss.”

Ronald stiffened for a second, not only because of the demon calling him a ‘prey’, but the knowledge it seemed to have of Ronald’s feelings, hinted in the last three words.

He had to get away. This demon could only mean trouble.

And he was right about that; the stranger let go of his hair and made a move for his hands. Ronald, however, managed to free himself just in time and take some steps sideways, all the time keeping an eye on the unsettling smiling demon.

“Oh? You want a fight, little one? I didn’t plan on you getting hurt, but then again, you’re _not_ leaving either. If you want a fight, little shinigami, then come and get me. And if you try to run, I’ll catch you like the cat does the mouse. You won’t escape my grasp.”

Ronald held out his hand, summoning his death scythe. What did the demon want with him? Why not just kill him? What was it planning?

No matter how Ronald looked at it, he was in trouble. He may be strong, but demons were dangerous for a reason. Grell, being one of the strongest – and most wicked, but that’s another thing – shinigami was known to have withstood a demon on his own several times. William, with his quick thinking and deceiving looks hiding how strong he actually was, could probably survive a fight against a demon too. But Ronald…

He shook his head, clearing it of all thoughts that would only lessen his chances against the demon. He had to get away and fast. This demon seemed to play with him, no plans of killing him. And that was never a good sign.

Adjusting his grip on his death scythe, Ronald chose fight instead of flight and lounged for the demon with his lawnmower.

The demon – _damn him_ – avoided with a laugh. All of a sudden he was behind Ronald, whispering: “Is that all? You might want to give up; you don’t stand a chance against me.”

Ronald hissed and spun around, aiming for the demon’s head, only to meet air. His breathing was slightly uneven, surprised by the demon’s quick moves and, honestly, a bit scared. The demon was _playing_ with him. _Playing_. And no matter how much Ronald tried to deny it, fact was that it frightened him. What kind of demon played with a reaper? Demons only intertwined when a soul was in the middle of it all, but now…

The demon had sought him out, not wanting to kill him nor, apparently, hurt him. What the _hell_ was going on?

“Show yourself!” Ronald shouted, eyes darting from one place to another, ready to defend himself should the demon suddenly attack.

But the demon had disappeared from sight. 

Ronald kept looking but slacked his grip on his death scythe slightly.

“What the hell…” he whispered to himself, a bit confused, though not believing for a second that the demon had left him for good. Not with the words it had spoken before.

His ears caught a sound that a mere human wouldn’t have noticed, but also quite hard for a shinigami to pick up. His lawnmower scratched the demon’s side, not enough to be any kinds of fatal, but doing some damage for sure.

Ronald allowed himself a grin, only for it to vanish the following second when he was grabbed from behind and pulled backwards to a solid chest. Hands now gripped his wrists and he felt the demon’s breath on his ear:

“Oh my. You’re tougher than you look. Now look at what you have done.”

Ronald glanced down slightly, looking at the wound he had inflicted on the demon. Blood dripped down on the ground in a steady rhythm, indicating a deeper wound than Ronald had first thought. He would have grinned had he not been in this situation. “Serves you right for underestimating me,” Ronald hissed and tried to wriggle free.

The demon laughed darkly, clearly amused. “So it seems.”

It let go of him and Ronald barely managed to avoid being stabbed in the stomach by the demon’s knife.

So now the demon got serious. About time. Though, it didn’t really help him.

He avoided another hit directed towards his arm and took several steps backwards while gripping his death scythe harder.

No way he would let the demon win. What would William and the others not think of him? Not being able to take on a simple demon. _Pathetic_.

He swung the lawnmower after the demon, almost wounding it again. But it was too quick.

Ronald felt a sudden pain in his arms and looked at them, seeing he had a wound on each from the demon’s blade. Not anything dangerous, but it bled either way. And most importantly: The demon had easily managed to wound him and he hadn’t even seen it. Damn it!

He turned and blocked an attack from the demon. Quickly he let go of the lawnmower with one hand and grabbed his knife, hidden from prying eyes under his jacket. He managed to slash the demon’s arm deeply before he felt something collide with his stomach and was thrown violently against a wall. He slumped down on his knees, gripping the lawnmower tightly as on reflex, gasping for air. Black dots appeared before his eyes and he tried desperately to stay conscious.

“My, my,” the demon’s voice murmured somewhere behind him. Arms locked around his upper body and lifted him to his feet, holding him there. “I’m sorry about that, but I didn’t see any other way.”

“Piss off,” Ronald hissed and elbowed the demon’s ribs.

The demon let go with a laugh. “Still not done yet? Fantastic.”

Ronald ducked the knife, quickly backing away. His head hurt, but he ignored it. He looked at the smiling demon, eyes narrowing. Holding his death scythe tightly, he attacked the demon more fiercely than before. The demon blocked using his knife, still smiling.

Ronald jumped away and looked at the demon for a long second. This really wasn’t going to end well. The demon seemed capable of much more than it showed. Just how strong was this demon? He had a bad feeling about this.

So he chose what he should have done before: Turned around and darted forward, away from the demon and the street. 

The laugh that followed made Ronald speed up. If only he could get to the main street where there were people. Why did he choose to take the side street? Bad things always happened in side streets.

He ducked when he heard the sound of a knife being thrown through the air. The knife hit the wall beside him with a sharp _clang!_ and fell to the ground. Ronald kept running, listening closely to his surroundings. Only his own running steps could be heard.

“Didn’t I tell you, reaper?” the demon’s voice sounded like an echo. “If you tried to run, I would just track you down.”

Ronald whipped around and lifted his scythe, and just in time. His scythe met the demon’s knife and he looked into the smiling demon’s eyes.

“Leave me!” Ronald shouted. “The boss and the others will notice if I disappear and will take action!”

“My dear,” the demon said and caught the wrist of the hand holding the scythe. “That’s exactly what I plan on happening.”  
Ronald’s eyes widened and he was forced to drop his scythe by the hard pressure on his wrist, threatening to break it. “What exactly are you planning?”

“Revenge, little one,” the demon answered with a sickly sweet smile.

Ronald growled and attacked with his knife again, lounging for the demon’s face. The demon, however, grabbed that wrist too and held it back. “You won’t stop until you lose conscious, will you?”

Ronald just glared at the demon.

The demon chuckled and pried the knife from Ronald’s hand. “I guess a little blood won’t hurt. _Much_.”

A sharp pain spread from his stomach throughout his whole body. A cry emitted from him and he quickly looked down, only to be met by a horrifying sight: His own knife had pierced his stomach and was now covered in dark, red blood. _His_ blood. 

Now, reapers might be more or less immortal, but they could feel the pain from wounds as well as any creature. And damn, did it _hurt_.

A weak and pained cry escaped his lips as the demon pulled out the knife. The black dots before his eyes had returned with a vengeance and he would have slumped to the ground had the demon not held him up.

“Mh…” the demon murmured softly and stroked Ronald’s cheek with a finger. Its other arm held Ronald tightly against its solid chest. “No wonder you’re his weakness. You are a pretty one. And strong too.”

“What are you… Talking about?” Ronald breathed, trying to break free from the demon’s hold, with no luck. He was too weak and the world was spinning. He felt nauseous and his body hurt.

“William, sweet one,” the demon said and adjusted his hold on Ronald, lifting him up in his arms. Ronald uttered a cry of pain.

“I… I don’t…” he began, but was silenced by the demon’s hand covering his mouth. The world was steadily turning black.

“Hush, little reaper,” the demon said with a smile. “Succumb to the darkness. You can no longer fight nor can you escape. _Sleep_.”

And that’s what Ronald did, no matter how hard he tried not to. His sight blackened and his body became limp. The last thing he heard, before he fully lost conscious, was the demon’s quiet laughter followed by a: “I have got you now, dear Ronnie. Now, let’s see if your boss can find you in time. I’ll make him pay. _Dearly_.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Sooooo. Hi! Again. I'm sorry, I really thought I had updated this fanfic with all chapters.
> 
> Seems like I didn't. Ick.
> 
> Sooo, anyways. Nothing much happens in this chapter. You get some more information and letters, hence I wanted to call this story ‘Letters’ at first. 
> 
> Furthermore, please notify me of any mistakes you might find. I think I tend to make some… Funny sentences.
> 
> Oh, and just so you know; I am following the storyline of the manga and not the anime. I will not take anything (much) from the anime if I can avoid it.
> 
> Well. That’s about it, I think. Enjoy this very belated update!
> 
> Oh, and attention! I still hate this site's way to post chapters. Why so difficult?! I'll update this chapter and then come back to the rest later. If any of you know an easier way, please do tell. Does it even make cursive font cursive? Ugh. I'll deal with it later. As I said a year ago. Huh...

William T. Spears was _furious_. His face was clear of all emotions and his eyes were as cold as ever, but the tension in the room spoke clearly for itself.

“Do _any_ of you have even the _slightest_ idea of why Mr. Knox hasn’t showed up yet?”

“Relax Will~,” Grell said lazily and looked at him, smiling.

“Sutcliff’s right, Spears,” Eric said. “’Kid probably went to a party last night and is now in bed with a hangover. He’ll be here soon, I’m sure.”

William’s eyes narrowed the smallest bit. “A party is no excuse to miss work, Mr. Slingby. Mr. Knox is more than an hour late and I have lost my patience.”

“As if you had any in the start,” Eric muttered, making Grell snicker and Alan slap him.

William just ignored them.

“Give him an hour before sending one of us for him,” Alan said. “I’m sure he’ll be here in that time. He may sometimes be late, but not more than an hour at most.”

“There is a first time for everything,” Eric added, grinning.

William sighed and glanced at the clock in the main office, hanging on one of the walls. “An hour. If he’s not here by then, you’ll go, Sutcliff. Now, back to work. And that’s _all of you_.”

Leaving no room for arguments – or whining – he went inside his own office, closing the door behind him.

“You know…” Eric began quietly, eyes on the door. “He may actually be a real softy on the inside as you said, Sutcliff. He hates when we are late for work, but he is willing to wait for the kid. Maybe he feels deeper for him than us?”

Grell looked absolutely terrified at the thought, despite his smugness the day before. “No way!” 

Eric just laughed. Even Alan smiled at the look on Grell’s face.

An hour went quickly although Grell didn’t do anything of importance and Eric was nodding off. Alan, again, was the only one who was working.

“Sutcliff.”

They looked up at the sudden break of silence, seeing William standing in the doorway to his office, his glasses reflecting the light.

Grell sighed and stood up, heading for the door. “As you wish, Will~. I’m sure poor Ronnie got too drunk last night. Mh… He’s probably sleeping in his bed by the time I arrive…” His voice died as he got further and further away. 

William sighed and went inside his office again, though not without adding a “Get to work, Mr. Slingby. You are setting of a bad example by dozing off.”

He closed the door behind him and headed to his desk where he sat down. He looked through the papers, though his focus seemed to be elsewhere. Mainly on a certain absent blonde.

William wasn’t worried. Why should he be? It was a well-known fact that Ronald liked to party. What Grell and Eric had said was most likely true; he must have a hangover.

But as William had said then: That was no excuse. If he couldn’t party the night before work _and_ turn up for work in time, he shouldn’t party at all. What he and the others did in their time off was not his concern. Only if it affected work, as now.

William appreciated Ronald’s hard work. But being late was a no-go. It was only because he sometimes helped William with his work that he got off without overtime most of the time. And because he wasn’t late by several hours, as seemed to be the problem now.

Missing two hours of work wasn’t an option. Ronald hadn’t even called in sick, so he was probably sleeping, as Grell had said.

William sighed and signed a couple of the pages with his signature. He couldn’t be thinking of Ronald now. He should be working.

Grell came back some time later and walked inside the office without knocking. “He wasn’t at home, Will.”

William raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t at home? Where else would he be?”

Grell sighed lazily. “Maybe he went with a girl.”

William’s eyes narrowed a little. “Ask his friends. They must know.”

Grell lightened up in a broad smile. “You’re asking me to gossip instead of working?”

“ _Now_ , Sutcliff, before I regret it.”

Grell grinned and winked at him. “As you wish, Will~!” And then he was gone, leaving William alone to his thoughts.

He leaned back in the chair with a thoughtful expression.

It wasn’t unusual as such for Ronald to be late for work, but it didn’t happen often. A month ago he had overslept, having been to a party the night before.

“Honestly…” William sighed softly to himself. That boy went to _way_ to many parties. Every day he had time off, mostly weekends, and some times even workdays. Not that William knew much about Ronald’s private life. He just wasn’t deaf and had sometimes heard this and that when getting his coffee.

… Maybe there were other reasons too. For example the fact that William thought of Ronald as… Interesting, so to say. He was the first person to ever help William willingly. He would not go as far as to say _love_ , though. Not even _crush_ – that was for schoolgirls. No, _interesting_ fit perfectly well.

William didn’t think of himself as soft either, but had it been _any_ other than Ronald that was late for work, he would have not waited _two hours_ for that person. Barely half an hour.

Ronald, though… He could wait a bit for that boy. But two hours, even for him… That was testing the waters.

William looked up as the door was opened, frowning. He had fallen too deep in thoughts. That wasn’t supposed to happen, especially not for one like him.

Grell hurried towards him, actually looking a bit anxious. “Some of Ronnie’s friends were at a party last night, but didn’t see him there. Others said that he went home. None have seen him since yesterday.”

William’s frown deepened. “Is it possible for Mr. Knox to have gone to another party? That way, his friends might-“

“I asked them about that too,” Grell interrupted, looking more and more nervous each minute. “They said that it was possible, but unlikely. Ronnie usually parties with certain friends, but they didn’t see him. And if he wasn’t out partying it isn’t likely that he went to a girl that night either.”

William stayed silent, contemplating. Was it possible that anything had happened to Ronald? Ronald was a strong reaper despite being the youngest, and he was quite clever too. He should have been able to defend himself. Then again, it depended on the eventual assailant…

“Do you think something has happened to him, Will?” Grell asked quietly, frowning. He may be an idiot, but he cared deeply for the few friends he had. And if one of them was in potential danger, he did not like to stand on the sideline for too long.

“We can’t say for sure,” William said calmly and locked eyes with Grell. “Did anyone see him go home?”

Grell shook his head. “They only saw him leaving. No one saw him make it home… If he _did_ make it.”

“Stop being pessimistic,” William said and adjusted his glasses. “We can’t say anything for sure yet. The possibility that he went to a party is still big. Did you look through his house or did you just knock?”

“I knocked on the door and every window I could find. Nothing,” Grell answered, having one of his few serious moments.

“In that case,” William murmured and stood, “I’ll go with you to Mr. Knox’ house again. Do you have a key by any chance?”

“Yes, I have,” Grell said, giving a small grin.

“Then let’s go,” William said and headed for the door. He didn’t want to know _why_ Grell had the key to another’s house. It would just give him a headache bigger than the one that was already starting to form. “Mr. Slingby, Mr. Humphries, you two will continue your work. If anyone comes for me, tell them I’m away for some time. Mr. Humphries, I trust you to make Mr. Slingby work.”

Alan smiled and nodded. “Of course, Mr. Spears.”

Eric scoffed and glanced at William. “Where are you going? With Sutcliff, no less.”

“Ronnie’s house,” Grell answered for William; he had left the room without answering. “He most likely didn’t go to a party after work last night, if what his friends say is true. We are going to search his house again.”

“Sutcliff!” William’s voice sounded from somewhere down the hall, obviously impatient.

Alan got a worried look on his face at Grell’s words. “Let’s hope he’s there… Maybe something happened?”

Grell shrugged. “Will doesn’t seem to believe so. Who knows? Maybe he really is at home, sleeping away a nasty hangover. I certainly hope so, thought he’ll have to deal with a pissed Will.”

Alan nodded and smiled gently. “I’m sure. Now, hurry after Mr. Spears before he loses his patience.”

“Which is nonexistent,” Eric muttered, receiving a slap on the arm from Alan.

Grell heard Eric complain while he hurried down the hall after William and smiled. Oh, those lovebirds! A true love story fated to end in tragedy.

Grell saw William standing a bit away and was beside him in the blink of an eye.

“Shall we go?” William asked drily, though he didn’t even wait for an answer. And _he_ complained about Grell’s – and others’ – lack of manners…

Grell followed William to Ronald’s house. Why he had a house in the human world they didn’t know. Some reapers chose that too, though, so it wasn’t unusual. It may be because of the human’s parties that Ronald liked.

Grell knocked loudly on the door, waiting for answer in a minute before he shrugged and unlocked it. They went inside, looking around.

“Ronnie!” Grell called, heading for Ronald’s bedroom. He had been there a few times and had stayed overnight once or twice. “If you are sleeping I am gonna hit you!”

He went inside the bedroom. Nothing seemed amiss. Grell frowned and continued looking in every part of the house. He didn’t succeed in finding the blonde. Neither did William.

“The door was locked, so he either didn’t come home last night or left early today,” William said thoughtfully. “The house is what you can expect from Mr. Knox, though it is somewhat clean, indicating that he cleaned up after leaving, if he was here at all. His things seem untouched. Therefore, if by any chance something has happened, it isn’t likely that it happened in here. Mr. Knox would have fought so things would have been tidier. If something happened, it did so on his way home or on his way to work. _Or_ at a party.”

Grell nodded slightly and locked the door again as they left. “Yes… Maybe he returned to the office while we were here.”

“So let’s return. If he isn’t there, we’ll figure out what to do.”

“It seems more and more likely that something happened…” Grell murmured on their way.

William ignored him, too caught up in his own thoughts.

They quickly made it back to the office. Ronald still hadn’t showed up and when Grell told Alan and Eric what they knew so far, they both looked different levels of worried.

“We still can’t make a conclusion,” William said and crossed his arms, looking at them. “Sutcliff, ask his friends for more. Slingby, you know where Mr. Knox party, don’t you?” A nod. “Good. Then go to those places with Mr. Humphries and see what you can find. Ask around.”

He dismissed them and returned to his office, watching them leave through the windows. He sat down with a sigh, a distant look in his eyes.   
Grell was right. Things pointed towards that something had happened. It became more and more likely the more time went by.

William sighed and adjusted his glasses, but stopped halfway. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something he didn’t remember leaving at his table. Meaning it had been placed there between the time he left and came back.

He frowned and took the folded paper, letting his eyes scan over the content. Immediately he tensed up, hand gripping the sheet of paper tightly. The letter read:

_Dear William T Spears_

_You may like to know that I have got one of your reapers, going by the name Ronald Knox. A lovely little youth, isn’t he? Oh, how I would love to see your eyes flash with burning anger, while your face remains as stoic as ever, though it will only last for some seconds before you have got control over yourself again. So typical of you, isn’t it? But then again… If this was anyone of your other officers, you wouldn’t have as much as raised an eyebrow. But this one is different, now isn’t he? You hold him very dear. It would be such a shame to hurt his pretty little body, wouldn’t it?_

_Now, let’s get down to business. You may not remember me, but_ oh _do I remember you. I want you to suffer; to hurt._ Badly _. And what’s better than taking your little ‘friend’?_

_Let’s see… I’ll be nice: You have exactly 21 days to find him. The longer time you are about it, the lesser is the chance of him returning safely to you. And if you have not found him before time runs outs, he’ll suffer the consequences._

_And because I’m in a generous mood, I’ll give you a hint:  
London, my friends._

_By now, you are probably very mad, aren’t you? But I feel like adding another condition: You may not tell anyone about this. Though, you may get help from your other workers. Grell Sutcliff may be a good addition, his strength taken in account. Alan Humphries is quite clever and can surely help you with the hints I’ll give you. Eric Slingby is sneaky and will be useful._

_And remember: Say a word to anyone else, and you have sealed Ronnie’s fate._

_Now, I bid you farewell._

_Till we meet again._

_And remember: 21 days, starting now._

“William?” Grell, having just returned from his gossiping, asked warily, seeing William’s expression and his tight hold on the paper. William wasn’t one to show his inner feelings, not even anger. But in this very moment, he wore a deep frown and his eyes had something Grell hadn’t seen before: Frustration and a barely hidden anger.

All those feelings, not much but definitely _something_ , vanished the second Grell spoke up.

“Sutcliff,” William said firmly. “Find Mr. Slingby and Mr. Humphries and bring them here. Do not speak to _anyone_ about Mr. Knox. If anyone asks, he is ill and needs rest.”

“Is there something wr-“

“ _Now_ , Sutcliff,” William hissed and looked at him. 

Grell nodded once and hurried away.

William sighed heavily and read the letter again. Who was it? Someone had abducted Ronald, and they had only figured that out now. To take a shinigami, you would have to be another shinigami, a demon or several humans. A mere human couldn’t take a shinigami without help. A demon, then? Or a traitor? _Who_?

15 minutes went by before Grell returned with Alan and Eric. “Sorry, Will! They were difficult to find and-“

“ _Quiet_ ,” William said. “Sit down.”

With only two chairs available one of them had to stay standing or sit on William’s desk. Not that Grell minded. He had just been looking for a reason.

“Read this, all of you,” William ordered and handed them the letter. Grell took it from his hands, frowning slightly and quickly reading it through. His eyes narrowed the more he read, and by the time he was done, he was furious.

“What does this mean?” he exclaimed and waved the letter. “Is this supposed to be some kind of sick joke? What kind of bastard-“

“Be _quiet_ ,” William demanded and nodded at Alan. “They need to read it too.”

Grell handed Alan the letter, still burning with anger. Alan looked worried and read the letter with Eric reading over his shoulder.

“This is serious,” Eric stated quietly, placing a hand on Alan’s shoulder for comfort.

“No shit,” Grell scowled. “Who would take Ronald?”

“Someone looking for revenge,” Alan said gently and gave William the letter again. “Or so it says. Do you remember anyone who you might have angered in the past, Mr. Spears?”

“Quite a lot I’m sure,” Eric growled. “The possibilities are endless.”

“ _Eric_ ,” Alan warned and sent him a look before returning to William. “This can’t be the doing of a human, unless someone is guiding the human for their own gain. I don’t think it’s likely that several humans have gathered either. It is difficult for humans to get the upper hand in a fight against reapers, especially when reapers can handle more than humans. Also, humans shouldn’t have a grudge against you. You never are in the human world.

A demon is more likely. A demon is certainly strong enough to take on a reaper. And I’m sure you have crossed path with several demons. It still seems weird for a demon to kidnap as revenge and not just kill, though. Demons mostly get in our way when there’s a soul at stake.

The last possible options are another shinigami - a traitor - or another being like shinigami and demons. But these two seem unlikely, though I’m sure you have got some enemies around here.

So, a demon or someone controlling a human is my guess.”

William nodded slightly. “I agree with you. But I do not remember having angered anybody more than I would any else. And when speaking of demons, I only do what I am supposed to do; collect the souls. Doing that shouldn’t make a demon want to take revenge.”

“You _have_ to remember,” Alan said urgently. “It’s our only lead. I’m sorry to say this, but we all depend on you. If you do not remember anyone who you might have angered, we do not stand a chance. We know that Ronald is somewhere in London, if we can trust the information in the letter. We also know that this is for revenge, so by remembering the person – or _persons_ – that might hold a grudge, we’ll be several steps closer to finding Ronald.”

“You don’t think Sebby can be the one, do you?” Grell asked tentatively, not looking happy at the thought of his demon kidnapping his friend.

“Not likely,” Eric said gruffly. “It would be far too easy. Whoever is a fault knows that Spears probably won’t remember, as he wrote in the letter. It would be stupid of that Michaelis to kidnap Ronald, getting all shinigami on his tail. If it was him, 21 days would be too long. He’d give us a day at most. No, it must be someone from your past, Spears. So long ago that whoever does not believe you’ll remember him anytime soon.”

Grell seemed relieved that Sebastian most likely wasn’t the one. “Shall I go ask him? He may kno-“

“You will _not_ do so unless it’s our last option,” William said firmly. “Reapers do not ask _demons_ for help.”

“It won’t do anyways,” Alan said softly. “Say a word to anyone else, and you have sealed Ronnie’s fate’, is what the letter says. By asking the demon butler we’ll risk him figuring out what’s wrong, ending Ronald’s life.”

“Oh yeah…” Grell muttered. “I forgot that.”

“We still need to work, as for not letting others begin to notice anything amiss. They will ask questions if we are not doing what we are supposed to do. Therefore this has to be dealt with outside working hours, no matter how much you want to find Mr. Knox,” William said and crossed his arms, looking at the three.

“ _We_ ,” Eric corrected. “You want to find him too. Sutcliff told us of your reaction to the letter.”

William raised an eyebrow, glancing at Grell who suddenly found his nails unbelievable interesting. Nothing unusual, had they not been in this situation. “Of course. One of my officers is missing because of someone wanting revenge on me. Why wouldn’t I be affected by this whole deal?”

Eric just scoffed, saying no more.

“So now we have to work?” Grell said, looking at William again.

William nodded. “Yes. We have some hours before we can continue with this.”

“One of us can use more time on the problem at hand instead of work,” Alan said. “Mr. Spears, you can use the time to try to remember.”

William nodded again. “Yes. Now, get out and work. And please, do not sit and think too much of this problem. Try to concentrate on work. After working hours we’ll speak about this again.”

The three nodded and stood up. “Try to remember,” Alan said again before heading out with Eric. Grell followed them after having sent William a reassuring smile.

Bastard. Grell _knew_ this whole ordeal affected William more than he wanted to admit. He sighed and looked at the letter again, narrowing his eyes and trying to think of something – _anything_ – that might help him. Had he pissed off some demon long time ago? If he had, why did the demon choose revenge _now_ , and not then?

Had William not been the collected person he was, he would have growled and thrown something at the wall. But being who he was, he closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath and tried to remember.

And that’s how the next few hours went, with William trying to remember, occasional signing some papers. The other three worked, though they kept thinking of Ronald and the abductor.

Time went fast and before they knew, they were gathered in William’s office again late in the evening. 

“You haven’t recalled anything?” Alan asked as he sat down on one of the chairs.

William shook his head and massaged his temples. “Nothing at all.”

The three others sighed. Everything was quiet for a moment before Eric spoke up: “Is it possible to look at reports from years ago? By doing that we might find something.”

William’s frowned. “I do not have access to those files, I’m afraid.”

Eric smirked and looked knowingly at William, who narrowed his eyes, seeing where this was going.

“Absolutely not, Mr. Slingby. Breaking in to look at the files is against the regulations. If anyone finds out we’ll be in trouble.”

“Though I do not like the thought either, Mr. Spears, Eric is right,” Alan said. “He can sneak in, take the files and we can read them in here. It may have useful information.”

William sighed heavily and began massaging his temples again. This was giving him a _headache_.

“Come on, Will~,” Grell said and crossed his legs, swinging one of his feet. “If Eric is discovered you’ll just say that you didn’t know anything about it. We’re doing this for Ronnie, remember that.”

“Even if I said that, it would still be one of my officers who had broken the rules – _again_ – and I will therefore be held responsible,” William said quietly.

“Then I won’t get discovered,” Eric said with a smirk, standing up. He ignored William’s ‘ _Mr. Slingby_ ’ and walked outside the main office continuing to the door leading out to the hall. Then he was out of sight.

William growled silently and shook his head. “ _Fine_. But I _will_ give you all overwork for _days_ if this is discovered. Am I clear?”

Alan and Grell nodded, both smiling. Breaking rules for an officer; William really _did_ care. But then again, he actually _did_ care deeply for all his officers and would break rules for all of them - depending on the rule and _why_. But Ronald was just more… Special. So was the problem at hand.

Eric returned ten minutes later to complete silence with a stack of papers in his hands. “Here,” he said and placed them on William’s desk, “reports from _your_ soul-collections. It’s not all, only older reports.”

William nodded slightly, sighed and said: “Well done. Take some all of you and look them through for anything useful.”

“What if you ‘forgot’ to write an eventual disagreement with a demon or other down?” Grell asked and took some of the reports, glancing at William.

“I write everything down,” William said sternly and gave Grell a meaningful stare. “ _Unlike some others_. I know you miss out some _minor_ details in your reports.”

Grell grinned and flipped some papers. “Well, I didn’t think you would appreciate reading all my escapades with Sebby~.”

“That’s not exactly what I was thinking, though I _do_ appreciate you not mentioning that _scum_ ,” William said. “I was speaking about your rule-breakings during soul-collections that you forgot to write on your reports.”

Grell just grinned and winked at him. “Oh. _Those_.”

William glared at him for a second before he too grabbed some papers. “Read, Sutcliff.”

Several hours later they had read through all the reports Eric had brought and had found nothing useful.

“We’ll continue tomorrow,” William said and ran a hand through his hair unconsciously. “After work. Go home and rest.”

“What about you?” Grell asked and looked at William.

William glanced at him for a long second before he shook his head a bit. “I’ll stay. I may remember something if I read the reports again or just sit and think. Meet up here tomorrow. Then we’ll figure out what to do from then.”

Alan and Eric left the office after they had said their goodbyes. They were all tired and thought it best to just sleep and then think it over the next day. Grell left after William threatened him with his death scythe, leaving William alone with the papers.

He leant back in the chair, crossing his arms and uttering a soft sigh. He wouldn’t get much sleep that night, that much was sure.

He woke up again with a startle, immediately scolding himself for falling asleep on his desk. _On his desk_. What kind of supervisor fell asleep on his desk?

He shook his head and looked at the papers he had slept on – and narrowed his eyes. Another letter caught his eyes. He lounged for it and read it quickly:   
_Your reaper is a feisty one, I’ll give him that. It’s fun to watch._

William allowed himself a smirk, rather proud of Ronald. It looked like he had given his abductor a fight at least. It also looked like he wasn’t giving up.

Then his smirk vanished again. Why would the enemy write that to him? Just to tease him? Or something else? And how the hell had the letter ended up on his desk?

He growled quietly and stared at the characters on the letter. When he found whoever was at fault for this, he would let Grell on him. That should do some damage.

William sat back and glanced at the clock. An hour until the others would arrive. He would wait and maybe read the reports again. 

When the first ones to arrive, Alan and Eric, he handed them the letter wordlessly, watching their reaction. Eric raised his eyebrow slightly and Alan smiled a bit. Their eyes, though, were cautious and showed frustrations.

“Another letter, huh?” Eric muttered and glanced at William.

William nodded calmly. “Obviously. Now we-“

“Will~!” Grell exclaimed and came in to them. “What – oh? What’s wrong?” His eyes fell on the letter in Alan’s hand. “Another one?”

Alan nodded and handed it to him. Grell quickly read it and gave it to William again. “Damn bastard. What I would give to slice him up with my death scythe.”

William coughed to get attention and looked at them. “As I was saying before you came, Sutcliff, we need to figure out what to do now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it. I'll be sure to update the next few chapters gradually. 
> 
> Do tell me what you think! I would love to get criticism. Flamers will be used to burn my homework, though. 
> 
> Now, is there other notes… I do not know how big the reaper world is, so… I am just making something up!
> 
> Aeh… Anything else..? Probably. Forgot it, though. Of course, I hope I manage to keep the characters in character. I can only see the musical of Eric and Alan to get an idea of their personality, soo… Yeah. Bleh.
> 
> Ronald will appear briefly in the next chapter. Kukuku~
> 
> Until next chapter!


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me forever, but I think I've figured out this site's method of posting.
> 
> Anyways, here's chapter 2 (or 3, if you count the prologue as Chapter 1).
> 
> When I wrote this a year back, I felt proud; now I do not. There's too much that should be changed, edited, yada yada... But ah well. I've almost forgotten what happens in this fic, too, haha (what a writer I am, huh?). 
> 
> There’s not much action so far; only our team trying to figure out where dear Ronald is. But! To make up for it, I’ll put in some more Ronald and unnamed demon. That should do something about the missing action… Somehow. Maybe. Oh well. Hope it doesn’t make you lose interest in this fic.
> 
> Ronald will begin this chapter. Fufufu. I don’t really like how I write his personality, but I figured that in his situation he wouldn’t use the kind of… Slang-ish language he does normally. Or something. Eh…
> 
> Now, I’ll let those who read these ANs go on with the story. Astonishing, isn’t it? Hope you enjoy!

He was surrounded by darkness. The air was chilly and he was shaking, sitting up against the wall behind him. His clothes felt damp. Why? Where…

Oh. Now he remembered. He was attacked by a demon and then fell unconscious. Where was he now?

He made a movement and discovered two things. One: His hands were chained and it was very uncomfortable with his hands in the air like that – how come he hadn’t noticed that before at all? Two: He shouldn’t move again. An immense pain in his stomach was followed by a splitting headache.

Blinking, he tried to focus and stay still so the headache would disappear, or at least stop hurting so _damn_ much.

But trying to focus proved to be more difficult than it should be. His surroundings were hazy, as if…

Then it dawned on him; his glasses were missing, explaining his blurred vision. He couldn’t see that well without his glasses, as all shinigami. Some shinigami were terrible nearsighted without them whilst others only had minor problems with their sight. Ronald was in-between. William was leaning towards the ‘terrible near-sighted’ while Grell was the ‘minor problems’.

Ronald groaned softly at the pain and massaged his temples. He figured it would ease the pain, having observed William do so often when dealing with Grell.

Speaking – or thinking, in this case – of William… Had he and the others even noticed that he was missing? How long had he been out, anyway?

He moved carefully again, but the pounding in his head only got worse. He pressed his eyes tightly together, swearing quietly at the headache.

“I see you are awake, little one,” a familiar voice said, sounding amused.

Ronald raised his head abruptly, only to resist facepalming – not that he could do it anyway – knowing that it would worsen the pain in his head more than the sudden movement had.

The demon laughed softly and Ronald more heard than saw him approaching, slouching down on his knees in front of him.

“Oh, little reaper,” the demon said and caressed his cheek softly with a long finger.

Ronald would have hit him, had he been able to. But with his hands chained above his head, he settled with a scowl.

“You’ll just hurt yourself more than you already are. Be more careful. Your head and stomach cannot take any sudden movements.”

Ronald hissed and leaned his head as much backwards as he could, trying to get away from the demon’s touch. Not that it helped much. “Do not _touch_ me, filthy demon. What are you doing here? What am _I_ doing here? Where is _here_?”

The demon chuckled and leaned towards him, his red eyes locking with green-yellow ones. “You are _here_ , Ronnie. Where _here_ is, is nothing you should be concerned about. You’ll either escape from _here_ or you’ll die. Simple as that.”

Ronald hissed and tried to kick the demon, but it just backed away. He scowled and glared at it. “Just you wait.”

The demon neared him again, this time grapping his wrists with one of his hands, smiling. “Oh, I’ll be waiting,” he whispered in Ronald’s ear.

Ronald’s answer was a glare burning with hatred.

“You know…” the demon murmured softly in his ear. “I understand why William likes you. You are young, strong, clever and pretty. You are alluring. Like a prize.”

Ronald’s eyes narrowed, heart speeding up. He did _not_ like the way the demon spoke of him.

“Maybe… I’ll do to you what William has yet to,” the demon whispered, his free hand trailing down to Ronald’s thighs, making the boy draw in sharp intake of breath. “Make you _mine_. How do you think William would react if he was told of that? That you were taken by someone else. He’d never be with you. He’d never look at you again, ‘cause you would have been dirtied. By one of the _loathed_ demons, no less.”

“Shut up!” Ronald snapped and tried to break free from the chains. The demon was _way_ too close and Ronald was scared shitless by its words. It wanted to… No. He didn’t let himself finish that thought. _No way_.

The demon just laughed and placed two fingers on his chin, pulling him closer so that Ronald could feel its breath on his lips. “We’ll just have to wait, mh?” He let go and ran a finger up his jaw. “Like porcelain…”

Ronald could do nothing about the demon’s touch. His head still hurt like hell, though he tried to ignore it, and his stomach wasn’t doing better. Actually, his whole _body_ hurt. He had bruises where he did not remember getting any. And with the handcuffs, he had little chance of escape. Every single movement hurt, so how could he possibly hope to break free?

Ronald bit his lower lip, watching the smiling demon with guarded eyes.

He had to get away, be it by himself or with help from others. He couldn’t stay here. Something told him, a voice inside of him, _instinct_ , that this ‘stay’ would only get worse the longer time he was a prisoner. And with the demon’s words earlier…

Ronald suppressed a shudder. He _had_ to get away.

As soon as possible.

 

William looked through the glass, watching his officers. Grell and Eric were for once doing their work. He supposed, knowing that one of their friends was in danger, had that effect on them; they got serious. Most of the time. By working they would be done earlier, avoiding overtime, therefore having more time to figure out where Ronald was being help.

William shifted his eyes to the paper in his hand. Another letter had arrived for him between the time he had gone out to get some coffee, needing the caffeine after another night with a small amount of sleep.

None of the others had been in the office that early, so there was no chance anyone had seen someone deliver the letter.

That kept bugging him; how the hell did it arrive on his desk? The thought of a demon turning up with the letter itself was disturbing. Of course, another explanation could be a traitor. Another shinigami could easily walk in whenever he – or she – wanted to. That was a slightly less unsettling thought, although it meant that whoever had taken Ronald might be watching their every move.

Then there was the option of a demon and a traitor working together – if one did not think of the unlikeliness of that. Now, _that_ was a truly disturbing thought.

William’s eyes roamed over the small paper, reading it for the umpteenth time during the last hour.

_Your reaper’s hair is surprisingly soft. Softer than anything I have ever touched._

His eyes narrowed. What was the abductor doing to Ronald? What was he planning? _Who_ was the enemy?

It frustrated William beyond belief not knowing what was going on; not knowing what to _do_.

It was the third day, and they still knew as much as two days prior; next to _nothing_.

How could they ever hope to find Ronald in time?

“You look very frustrated, Mr. Spears,” Alan’s soft voice sounded from the door. “Eh? Is that another letter in your hand?”

William hadn’t showed it to them yet. He had only just gotten it an hour ago and had since then sat with it in his hands, trying to figure out the abductor’s way of thinking. But they should know.

“Yes,” he answered quietly, handing the paper to Alan who came closer. “I don’t know what he’s after. What he want us to _do_ about these letters,” he said as Alan took the paper.

“He may just tease us…” Alan murmured after having read the two sentences.

William sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking at Alan. “Yes… It’s possible. Writing _that_ cannot be used as hints, so it’s probably just to taunt us. Whoever…” He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, somehow managing to not mess it up. “Show the letter to the others and then come back with it. Remember: Work first, _then_ Mr. Knox.”

Alan nodded quietly and left to show the letter to Eric and Grell.

William looked at his own work in front of him. Better get done with it and think about the letters and Ronald afterwards.

After hours of paperwork and soul-collections they gathered in William’s office as the previous nights. It was early evening and they sat as they did the days before; William on his own chair, Grell on the desk and Eric and Alan on the last chairs.

“I’m gonna murder that bastard…” Grell muttered under his breath, shoving some of his hair backwards using one hand; a very feminine movement. No surprise, really. “Who knows what he does to Ronnie. And then he sends us those letters… The nerve!”

“It’s probably just to tease,” Eric voiced. “The enemy is playing with us. You haven’t thought of anything, have you Spears?”

William had used many hours thinking of whom he might have possibly angered, coming down with nothing. He slowly shook his head, quickly followed by a _no_.  
“Damn it…” Eric murmured and leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees placing his head on his hands in a thoughtful position. “Damn it all. And _especially_ the one who took Ronald.”

William sighed, contemplating. “We didn’t get anything from the reports, so the abductor might be someone I have met off duty. This points towards another shinigami; I would surely have remembered meeting a demon outside work. But we have to take every possibility in consideration, no matter how unlikely they may seem. 

If it is a shinigami I am able to think of a few who might not exactly _like_ me.” He ignored a scoff from Eric and continued: “If we can somehow keep an eye on their movements we may be able to tell if it is one of them.

But if it is a demon, it will prove to be more difficult. A demon can be _everywhere_ , while a shinigami is in the shinigami-realm most of the time. And I do not recall any demons I have encountered who would hate me so much as to want revenge. A demon wanting revenge for taking a soul is stupid. But off duty… That is another thing. There might not have been a soul at stake. But I can’t figure out what else.

Tomorrow I want you to shadow the reaper I ask you to. You’ll get one each and then we’ll see if we can find something useful from watching them. If not, we’ll try some others and if _that_ doesn’t do any good either, we’ll try something new. Does any one of you have something to say?”

“I will not leave Alan’s side,” Eric said and locked eyes with William. If Alan suddenly had an attack without him being there… He couldn’t let that happen. _Someone_ had to watch over him. Preferably himself.

William met his eyes and then nodded. He knew why Eric wanted to be with Alan, of course. They were already missing Ronald, and if Alan had a bad attack that would only worsen if he wasn’t taken care of, they would lose him too for some days. And that _really_ wasn’t needed.

“Who are we going to shadow?” Alan asked intrigued. 

Being who he was, William did not smile, although he almost did at Alan’s enthusiasm, serious situation or not. Instead, he told them the names of those they would keep an eye on the next day.

“Good,” Eric said and crossed his arms. “So we’ll look out for anything questionable they do, right?”

William nodded calmly. “Correct. This will force our work out of schedule, so we will have to work overtime tomorrow night. Do any of you have any complaints?” No one said anything. Not even Grell. “Thought as much. If you are discovered by the one you are following and questioned, I trust you to make up a believable excuse. Is that understood?” The three nodded. “Good. That means I don’t work with a team of total imbeciles.”

“We just take after you,” Eric remarked and smirked at the glare sent his way. “You asked for it.”

“So… We’ll follow the one you assigned us to the whole day, trying not to be caught?” Grell said and tilted his head to one side. Then he lightened up in a shark-like grin. “Sounds like fun.”

“I’m sure it does,” William replied drily. “Now go home, all of you. We have a long day tomorrow with spying and work, so I advice you to get some sleep.”

The three nodded and left without arguing. They probably knew it would fall on deaf ears.

Now, to check another thing. The letters. 

William stayed up through the whole night, keeping watch. He made some work now and then, but didn’t leave or fall asleep for _one_ second. 

In the morning, no letter had arrived. This could be because they wouldn’t get a letter today, but it could also mean that whoever arrived with the letters didn’t want to be seen. This was most likely the case. The letter could be late too, though.

He sighed softly. No matter what, he had to leave the room now, as he too would be shadowing a reaper.  
William left the office, knowing where to head to. He happened to know (read: Had looked at the reaper’s schedule) where the reaper would be now, and planned to keep an eye on him there. The other was going to gather souls most of the days, so William would use much of his time moving around and keeping an eye out for the other.

He looked for about ten minutes before he found the reaper he would be watching. The reaper was sitting on a bench in the middle of a street in London, reading a book. William knew he was waiting for a death to happen. A murder, actually, in the alley a bit away from them at the left. A man would kill a woman and steal her things.

William shook his head slightly and leaned against a wall near the other reaper, though hidden so the other wouldn’t see him that easily. _Humans_. Killing another just because they struggled when stealing from them. Talking about idiocy.

He sighed softly and folded his arms, eyes becoming distant - thoughtful. 

Ronald was somewhere in this city, held against his will by _someone_. 

His eyes narrowed and he gazed at the reaper he was watching, seeing how he just read in peace, ignoring his surroundings.

Where could Ronald be? London was an extremely large city and it would be _very_ difficult to find one specific person here without knowing where to look. He could be kept in the shinigami-realm too, hell, even in the realm of demons. They didn’t have any hope of finding Ronald without knowing where to start.

William cursed softly, looking at the reaper while thinking.

The idea that another shinigami held Ronald captive was absolutely _hideous_. A shinigami abducting another shinigami to get revenge on a third. What kind of respectable shinigami did such a thing? Apart from the abductor, obviously. He– or she – clearly wasn’t respectable.

And then there was the letters… Would there be a letter by the time he arrived to the office? Probably. He had been gone after all, leaving the office totally secluded. That is, if they would get a letter at all. It wasn’t even certain that they would get a letter every day. He just thought so, as they had gotten a letter the three other days. But of course, the first letter was to let William know of the ‘game rules’, while the second and third was to taunt. It didn’t mean that they would get a letter every day, if ever again. 

William frowned. Without more letters, they wouldn’t get more information, meaning that they had nothing to work with, meaning that they were forced to play some games of guessing. And that wasn’t _enough_. With only 21 – _18_ – days to figure it all out, it wouldn’t do. 

The reaper had stood up from the bench, now heading to the alley where the murder would happen. William followed him at a distance, still thinking.

It was the same for the next many hours; William would follow the reaper on his collections, thinking about the whole problem, while the other waited for the upcoming death and the souls he had to collect. At the end of the day, he had noticed nothing amiss with the other shinigami. He was just a boring person, reading whenever he could. And he was very unaware of his surroundings, given that he hadn’t detected William. Disappointing, though William didn’t really complain; if he had been discovered it would have been hard to keep watching him. 

He headed back to the office to meet up with his subordinates. It was early evening and it was raining softly, as it often did at this time a year.

William made it to the main office minutes later, seeing the others had already arrived. Then he frowned. Alan was sitting on Eric’s desk, which was completely normal and not at all what William was focused on. No, what his eyes had caught was the letter in Alan’s hand.

He opened the door and stepped in, immediately getting the three’s attention.

“Mr. Spears,” Alan said quickly and rose. “Another letter arrived. We found it in your office.”

Ignoring the fact that they had been in _his_ office _without_ permission, he accepted the letter Alan handed him, swiftly letting his eyes roam over it.

_Your reaper is located in a place where the sun will never reach._

So today it was a hint and not teasing.

“It could be a basement,” Eric guessed.

“Or a place where there are no windows,” Alan mused.

“ _Or_ in Hell with the demons,” Grell said thoughtfully. “Maybe Seb-“

“ _Or_ many other places,” William said firmly, cutting off Grell’s sentence. He didn’t want the idiot to speak of that _filth_. Especially when it didn’t help their situation. “But it also let’s us know that Mr. Knox isn’t in a room with windows. And if there _are_ windows, it’s in a forest or another place where the sun will not reach, as stated in the letter.”

“So the enemy gives us hints as well,” Alan said slowly. “Not just taunting letters.”

“Indeed he does,” Eric muttered. “Damn fucker.”

“We’ll save this information for the future,” William spoke and crossed his arms, looking at the others. “It is not of much use right now, only when we know more. Now, how did it go?”

“Nothing,” Alan said and sighed.

William looked at Grell who grinned at him.

“Nothing. But I was seen by the reaper~. Luckily, I told him how handsome he was – and he _was_ – and he immediately fled from me, mumbling about me being a freak. Like he’s one to talk… I continued to watch over him after that, but as said, nothing happened.”

William massaged his temples and glared slightly at Grell. “You can’t do _anything_ right, can you?”

“Hey!” Grell cried. “He didn’t suspect me after he saw me! And I watched him the whole day!”

“But the fact that you couldn’t stay hidden is bad enough as it is,” Eric said and looked at the redhead. “You just can’t stop yourself when a handsome man is near you, can you?”

Grell glared at him. “Huh! Don’t even begin, mister-“

“ _Quiet_ ,” William ordered. Was he working with a bunch of kids? “We have work to do. We are behind in our schedule and it is _not_ acceptable. I know that I asked you to shadow some reapers, but we _have_ to do our work. I’ll have each of you shadow another shinigami again tomorrow, so we won’t get much sleep. But there’s a life at stake, so you won’t complain, will you?”

No one said a word.

“Didn’t think so. Now, start working. We are lucky that no collections were handed to us for today and tomorrow, so you’ll just have to write reports. It’ll take some hours at least.”

Grell sighed and glanced at his table. “Urk… I don’t wanna work…” He sat down either way. Eric and Alan followed his example – for once – and William also headed for his own office.

He closed the door after him and sighed heavily, walking to his desk. Having not slept the previous night, he was tired, and this night he wouldn’t sleep either. First he would make his work and then he would stay awake to make sure no one went into his office while he slept with another letter.

He sighed again and looked through the glass at his subordinates. He would have smiled seeing all of them work, but he knew the reason behind it and frowned instead. They _had_ to find Ronald before the time was up. He was willing to work overtime for years after that, so a few nights without sleep was nothing.

Nothing, just as long as they found Ronald.

No letter arrived that night either because of William’s watchful – though tired – gaze. So in the morning, when the others arrived – they had finished their work in the middle of the night, heading home for the last hours of sleep – he sent Alan for a secretary who would keep watch of his office while they were away.

“The whole day, Mr. Spears?” the woman repeated, a bit sceptic. “Please forgive me for asking, but what are you doing the whole day? And why make me watch your office?”

“That’s none of your business,” William replied sternly, watching the woman shrink under his hard gaze. “Just make sure that _no one_ enters that room, apart from me and my subordinates. Do you understand?”  
The woman nodded quickly, not meeting his eyes.

“Wonderful. And do _not_ leave the office either. I’ll know if you do.” William looked at the others, raising an eyebrow. “What are you waiting for? Don’t just stand there, do what I told you to.”

With those words he left the four to themselves.

“Don’t mind him,” Alan said gently and smiled sweetly. “Mr. Spears is stressed these times, so forgive him. He doesn’t mean those hard words.”

The woman nodded slightly. “Of course. I was just speaking without thinking. Is it because of Ronnie? I heard he is sick. Is it bad?”

Alan smiled at her. “He’s sick, yes. It’s not that bad, but Mr. Spears thought it would be better for Ronald to stay home, resting. He will be back soon, I promise. Now, we’ll leave to. And please, do as Mr. Spears said, no matter how harsh he was, okay? It’s important.”

The secretary smiled and nodded eagerly. “Certainly, Mr. Humphries. I’ll make sure no one enters the office. I won’t leave it either.”

“Don’t look at his things either,” Grell said with a grin. “Believe me: He doesn’t like it.”

“It’s your own fault,” Eric said. “You moved all his things. I actually understand why he gave you overtime.”

“You’re no fun…” Grell pouted. “And neither is he.” He perked up and smiled at the woman. “Oh, but we have to leave now, or else Will will give us _all_ overtime! Just read one of the books in the shelves and you’ll be fine!”

“Yes, Mr.-” A scowl. “- _Mrs._ Sutcliff. A book sounds good,” the woman said and bowed slightly.

Grell squealed and headed out, quickly followed by Eric and Alan who waved goodbye to the secretary.

 

William kept his eyes focused on the shinigami he was shadowing. He briefly wondered if the others had seen anything suspicious. The man he was watching had made paperwork the first many hours, leaving William alone with his thoughts and occasionally glances at him. He was doing nothing out of what you’d expect: Work. Now, though, he was out to gather souls, needing to collect six of them at four different places.

A jealous woman who would kill her husband before committing suicide, a woman dying of old age, a sick child and a fire killing two lovers.

Again; nothing out of the ordinary.

And yes, William had peeked at the other’s schedule for today.

He sighed and watched the man take the soul of the child. It was truly a cruel world they lived in.

William closed his eyes shortly, knowing the reaper would stay where he was for some minutes at least, busy writing notes. He was standing in the boy’s room right in front of the window, from where William could watch him. William himself was standing on the roof of the house beside the boy’s, so the reaper would have a hard time seeing him, especially if he wasn’t looking for anything in particular.

Was Ronald wounded wherever he was? It was unlikely that he had not been harmed when whoever had attacked him, unless he had been sleeping peacefully in his bed when it had happened. The second letter hinted a fight, though.

William frowned. Ronald was probably hurt. How badly? Shinigami healed much faster than humans, but it all depended on their physically as well as mentally state.

If Ronald was being held in bad conditions, he most likely didn’t heal as he should.

William opened his eyes again, seeing that the reaper was still busy writing on his notepad.

Figures. He seemed like that type; the type who wanted order and control. A type much like William.

A whistling sound in the air suddenly caught William’s attention. The sound was immediately followed by a new presence. William spun around and caught the folded paper that was thrown at him just like he had once caught Grell’s scythe.

The presence was gone as suddenly as it had appeared. 

He gazed at the letter in his hand, opening it with his finger.

_Your reaper’s skin is as soft as velvet. Did you know that?_

William scowled. First it was Ronald’s hair, now it was his skin? _What did the demon have in mind?  
_ He cursed and spun around on his heels, heading to his office.

There was no longer a reason to shadow the other reapers, as he was now almost certain about two things. One: The one who handed the letters didn’t want to be seen. Whoever hadn’t come with the letter yesterday before he had left, and today he had gotten it directly because of the secretary in his office.

And two: They were up against a demon, of that he was sure. The presence had been that of a demon.  
William frowned. How was that possible? He should have remembered pissing a demon off. Then why didn’t he remember anything? He couldn’t think of any demon he could have angered _that_ much.

When he made it back to the office, the secretary quickly stood, about to say something, but the words caught in her throat at the dark look on his face. She settled with an acknowledging “Mr. Spears.”, before hurrying out.

William ignored her and sat at his desk, gripping the paper tightly and glared at it.

A demon held Ronald captive. A _freaking_ demon! Demons and reapers were natural enemies. What awful things did the demon do to him?

And Ronald had been with the demon for _five_ whole days. What could he possibly have been subjected to?

William sighed heavily and massaged his temples while thinking. Ronald was one of his subordinates and he had allowed him to be taken. By a _demon_ no less, and now he couldn’t even figure out where Ronald was being held. What kind of supervisor was he? Not being able to deal with these things.

And he was tired. So very tired. Two whole nights without sleep, working and thinking wasn’t making things better.

He waited some hours for the others, in the meantime doing _nothing_ other than reading the letter over and over again, thinking about it and trying to resist the urge to shred it to pieces.

“Found something?” Grell asked at the look on William’s face when he and Eric and Alan entered their boss’ office.

William waved slightly with the letter in his hand, the other busy rubbing his temples to avoid a headache. “A demon. A demon captured Mr. Knox. And we got another letter from it.”

He handed Eric the letter when he moved to take it. Eric read it out loud for the others to hear.

Grell growled and crossed his arms. “How _dare_ he touch Ronald! When did you learn that it was a demon?”

“Its presence,” William answered tersely. “It threw the letter at me, I guess, but it was gone in an instant. I never saw it.”

Alan’s eyebrows creased and he looked at the letter, still in Eric’s hand. “It enjoys teasing us… What do you think it intends to do?”

The others were silent for a moment, contemplating.

“It depends… On its next letters, if there will be more,” Eric said slowly, gazing at William. “Do you think so?”

Their supervisor nodded. “I do. I think the demon intends to send us a letter each day.”

“So what do we do now?” Alan asked.

William got a thoughtful look in his eyes. Yes, what should they do now? They couldn’t just look for demons like that. Demons would attack if they were discovered, unlike shinigami, who would probably just be a bit suspicious. And it wasn’t easy to keep watch on a demon.

“We wait,” William said quietly, making the others frown. “We can do nothing right now. We can only hope we will soon get another hint, or we’ll continue to be clueless.”

“We know the enemy is a demon,” Alan spoke, counting on his fingers. “We know Ronald is somewhere dark, most likely, and we know he’s in London. Also, we believe we’ll get a letter each day until the time is out. It’s a start. But… Overall, it’s not much.”

“Exactly,” William said. “So we must wait.”

“But what will happen to Ronald~!” Grell whined and rested his palms on William’s desk, leaning towards him. “We can’t just sit back and do _nothing_! Not when his life is at stake. There has to be _something_ we can do!”

“We might as well do something ‘normal’ as to not make others suspicious of us,” William replied icily, his glare fixed on Grell, just as cold. He agreed with the redhead, but they couldn’t do _anything_ about it. “A day or two, see what the next letters may provide of information. Then we’ll work out from there.”

Grell scoffed and backed away, heading for the door. “You really are cold-hearted.”

William glared after him as he left, then shifted his gaze to the two others in the room, daring them to say anything that might piss him off.

“We’ll wait,” Alan said softly, discreetly elbowing Eric to make sure he didn’t say anything. Not that Eric was _that_ stupid. “But not for too long, right?”

William shook his head and dismissed them. When they had left and closed the door, he groaned and pressed his eyes tightly together. Things clearly didn’t seem to go well.

And he was in desperate need of _sleep_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me these long ANs! Really. I am rambling most of the time, so please bear over with me!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A bit of Ronald and the demon, of William and his thoughts and such. Lovely, ne? I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone. 
> 
> Next chapter… Will probably start with Ronald and the demon too. And end with them. Wonderful, right?
> 
> Do comment and tell me what you think! What do you think of the demon so far? I usually hate OCs, but I guess it’s like boys; can’t live with them, can’t live without them, right? x’D I hope you’re not annoyed at my OC. Ehe… Also, do point out every mistake you spot on your way! Flamers will be used to burn my schoolwork~ (Not sure my teachers will accept that excuse, though...)
> 
> Well! Now I’ll let you off. I’ll try to make future ANs shorter, but then again, if you don’t like ‘em, skip ‘em. Though you might miss something important. Your choice, kuku.
> 
> ‘Till next time, dearies!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have mentioned it before, I must have, but do note the rating. I did not use warnings, as I feel it sometimes ruins a story, so beware that there might be sensitive scenes coming in future chapters, namely the one following this one and probably the one following that, too.
> 
> This chapter does not have much William, but more Ronald and demon. I don’t think you’ll complain, will you?
> 
> I don’t really know what I think of this chapter, though. Somehow I like it, somehow I’m not satisfied. I think it’s the Will-part. It’s not like it’s bad – in my opinion – but… I don’t know. There’s something that keeps bugging me. Oh well. You tell me if there’s anything, won’t you?
> 
> As always, I hope I don’t disappoint you with this chapter~
> 
> Mmmh… And I hope I do the characters justice. I’m not always too sure about that.
> 
> The space between lines is messed up at places. I'll correct it. Someday. Today is not the day.
> 
> Well, onwards with chapter 3! Hope you enjoy~

Being trapped who knows where in a never-ending darkness with no company, apart from a horrendous demon, cold and wounded, was hell. His head still hurt from sudden movements and he healed frustratingly slowly. Days without food and only water had that effect. And the chilly air made him cold, therefore not helping his wounds the slightest.  
All those things made Ronald weaker than he remembered having ever felt before. Good thing shinigami didn’t need food as humans, or he would have starved long ago. Probably.

His clothes were dirty and had he been a mere human, he would have risked dying from infections. His clothes were covered in his own blood and he didn’t exactly think he smelled _nice_. His hair too, he imagined, was sticky with blood from the wound in his head and messed. The blood was dry by now and so were his clothes. It didn’t make it less uncomfortable, though.  
He was tired, too. But, believe it or not, it was difficult to sleep. He was seated in an awkward position with his hands in the air and his several injuries hurt from the smallest movement. How could one sleep like that?

And then there was the demon holding him captive… Ronald shuddered. If he fell asleep, who knew what it might do to him?  
While the demon seemed talkative enough, it didn’t speak much of anything useful, only managing to scare him with its words and occasionally touches. Nothing more than a caress of his cheeks, but the demon’s words days prior about ‘making him his’… It could only mean _one_ thing, and it frightened him to no end - not that he would give the demon the satisfaction of showing it.

The demon taunted him. It hadn’t done anything apart from a touch now and then, but Ronald _knew_ it was only a matter of time. And he didn’t think he _had_ that much time left.  
The demon spoke of revenge on William using Ronald. _Why_ he wanted revenge, Ronald still did not know. Neither did he know precisely _how_ that revenge was planned … He shuddered again. He was a prisoner meant to be used against William somehow, of that he was sure. But how? A death threat? He didn’t even know why _he_ was the one to be taken…

Then again… The demon spoke of William as if he felt _something_ for Ronald. It that’s how it was, it made sense… Using one’s… Well, beloved, to get revenge… How cliché.

Still, Ronald thought it unlikely, though he couldn’t deny the small spring of hope he felt. If only William came to save him…

Ronald glared up at the chains on his wrist, keeping him captive in the darkness. He had tried countless times to break free, to no avail. The cuffs were special-made. Ronald _might_ have succeeded in breaking them, had he not been in this situation; wounded, hungry and freezing.

_Weak_.

Ronald let out a soft sigh and looked down at his lap, frowning. If he didn’t get out of here soon, he would get mad. More so than Undertaker. And _that_ was serious.

His head shot up at the sound of footsteps, ignoring the headache the movement brought with it. His glasses were still missing. With them on, his eyes would have gotten used to the darkness. But as things were now, he was nearly as blind as a newborn kitten.

The footsteps came to a halt in front of him. “How are you doing, little one?” the amused voice of the demon sounded.

Ronald sneered and focused on the blurred silhouette of the demon kneeling down in front of him. Being so near, he was able to see the demon’s hazy person. One thing he could see clearly, though, was the demon’s red eyes, shining with amusement.

Bastard.

“Why do you even bother?” Ronald spat, refusing to show his weakness in front of the demon. And he most definitely didn’t want it to see his hidden fear.

The demon chuckled and tilted its head slightly. “To get an answer, obviously. And here I thought you were smart.”

Ronald’s eyes narrowed. “ _I’m perfectly fine in this shithole, freezing and hungry and wounded_.”

The demon, apparently, just found him amusing. “So you _aren’t_ stupid. Good to know.” He smiled at Ronald and got a thoughtful look in his eyes. Not that Ronald could see it. “I am very sorry, but I have to keep you weak. If you weren’t, you’d most likely fight more, and although it’s amusing, it’s also tiring. Besides…” His voice dropped some octaves, becoming almost inaudible, although his message was made clear to Ronald whose eyes widened slightly by the following words: “The weaker you are, the less you’ll struggle when I finally get my way with you.”

“Stay away from me!” Ronald almost shrieked. But of course, being a _man_ , being _him_ , he didn’t shriek. Especially not because of a mere threat.

The demon laughed quietly and placed a hand on Ronald’s cheek, caressing it with a finger. “My, my, dear. Quite amusing, aren’t you?”

Ronald shook his head, trying to get away from the demon’s touch. It didn’t work, though. Quite the opposite, really; the demon readjusted its grip and held Ronald’s chin tightly, leaning towards him, its breath colliding with Ronald’s lips.

“Still up for a fight, huh…” the demon whispered and smiled. An unsettling smile, that was for sure.

Ronald hissed and spat the demon in his face, smirking when he – just barely - saw the light scowl on the demon’s face. It wasn’t often that face showed more than a smile and amusement.

Then his smirk was replaced by a grimace and he doubled over, gasping of the pain the demon’s hit to his stomach had elicited.

The demon smiled and placed a hand on Ronald’s head resting on its shoulder, playing with his hair.

“Although I _did_ say I didn’t want to harm you, I’m not against it either,” the demon spoke calmly while caressing the hurting reaper’s back.

Ronald’s answer was a muffled groan. Damn, _did it hurt!_

“Your hair is soft…” the demon commented, watching Ronald who didn’t even snap something at the statement. “… I may have hit a bit harder than necessary.”

Ronald didn’t think he sounded _one bit_ sorry. _Die_.

After some long minutes Ronald could finally breathe easily again, his wound not hurting as much as before. It bled, though. Good thing shinigami didn’t die from blood loss, though the loss of blood still made them weak.

Now, however, he was facing another problem, far worse than the wounds and the fatigue. This time, it was _that hand_ caressing his skin under his clothes. Apparently the demon had sneaked its hand under Ronald’s clothes when he had been unaware of things, too caught up in pain.

_That hand_ , which was the reason for Ronald getting goosebumps and making him breath in a sharp intake of air.

_Fuck no-_!

He uttered a somewhat horrified cry and tried to wriggle away from the demon and his touch. The demon, however, just laughed and pinned Ronald to the floor – when the hell did the chains have the ability to extend like William’s scythe? – and stroked his cheek gently.

Ronald ignored the pain from his several wounds and the pounding in his head and tried to pry the demon off him without using his hands, being careful of his stomach and head; it was, after all, those places that hurt the most.

He uttered a cry when the demon pressed his hand down on his stomach, making it hurt again.

“Little reaper,” the demon whispered and continued to touch Ronald’s chest under his clothes. “How long until William finds you, do you think?”

Ronald hissed quietly before answering. “Soon… The day you’ll die.”

The demon chuckled amused, leaning down just enough to not touch Ronald’s lips with his own. “How about we make a bet then? If William somehow manages to find you within seven days, I’ll not force myself onto you. If, however, your beloved William hasn’t found you by then, I’ll do what I please with you. How does that sound?”

Ronald sneered up at him. “As if one can trust a demon to-“

“You can trust me,” the demon smiled. “Think about it. If you say no, I might as well just make you mine now.” To prove his words, he moved the hand from Ronald’s hair to between his legs, making the reaper gasp and struggle. “If you say yes, however, I won’t do anything until the days are up. So?”

Ronald was quiet for some time, before breathing an almost inaudible “Fine…”

The demon smiled and stroked the scowling reaper’s jaw. “Then it’s a deal.”

Ronald glared at the demon and tried to sit up again, but the demon held him down.

“I was wondering…” the demon spoke slowly, watching the struggling reaper beneath him. “You like parties and women. How come you’re with so many women when the one you like obviously is William?”

Ronald hissed. Why the hell should he tell the demon that? When he first began dating women, it was because he wanted William to notice him, however stupid the method might have been. When it hadn’t worked as such, he still ended up being known as the ‘flirtatious and charming young man’, so he continued partying and charmed the ladies. Besides, he had always liked to party, not just because he wanted William’s attention.

He liked both women and men, though he hadn’t been with men before. William was the first man he had ever felt anything for. Most likely the _first person_ he ever felt something for. Of course, he thought other women as cute and whatnot, but… They just weren’t _enough_.

But tell the demon this? Yeah, right.  
Ronald let out a groan and pressed his eyes tightly together when the demon again pressed down on his wound. “I’m waiting for an answer, pretty one,” he said and grabbed Ronald’s chin, forcing him to face him. 

“As if I would tell you,” Ronald spat and opened his eyes to glare at the demon.

The demon smiled and loosened his grip, now caressing Ronald’s cheek. “Be careful. I’ll not take you before the days are up, but I can do _so many_ other things to you. So chose wisely: Speak or keep quiet?”  
Ronald growled slightly. “To get his attention. Happy?”

“Very,” the demon said and smiled. “That wasn’t hard, now was it?”

Ronald gasped quietly when the demon’s hand on his chest began caressing his skin again – it had just lain on his chest before, unmoving.

“Mh. So you tried to make him jealous? Why are you still doing that now? He obviously hasn’t given you the attention you want,” the demon continued, ignoring the squirming shinigami beneath him.

“You know so much about me already! You probably know this too!” Ronald shouted and inwardly cursed at the chains. Why did they _have_ to extend in such a way that he _still_ couldn’t hit the demon?

The demon chuckled and smiled down at Ronald. “Remember what I told you minutes ago.”

With those words the demon leaned forward and licked Ronald’s neck with the tip of his tongue, before penetrating the skin with his teeth.

All colour left Ronald’s face and he let out a sharp gasp, immediately trying to get away, only for the demon to pin him against the floor using more force, seeming to enjoy the blood drawn from the bite.

Ronald groaned quietly from the pain the bite inflicted. It didn’t get better that the demon seemed to want to pierce his skin completely.  
The demon released him and licked the blood up before meeting Ronald’s eyes again. He let a finger caress the bite, causing Ronald to hiss. “I have now marked you. I just need to make you mine.”

Ronald froze, making the demon laugh. “You still have seven days. Let’s hope your dear William finds you in time, mh?”

Ronald glared up at him. 

How much did William know? Did he even know Ronald was abducted? He should know…

Ronald’s breath hitched when the demon’s hand slid up under his clothes again, caressing the skin. He closed his eyes and let out a deep, shaky breath.

Seven days. He had seven days.

 

The demon had just sentenced itself to a one-way-ticket to Hell. Not Hell as in the place the demon came from originally, but a Hell that would make the demon suffer far worse than death.

William sat on his chair in his office, looking at all the letters spread out in front of him. Since the day he had decided to wait for more, he had gotten five letters. And the two letters that pissed him off the most was those he had gotten four days and two days ago:

_While the blood is dripping, the clock is ticking. Life is slowly leaving those enchanting eyes, oh, how desperate are those cries?_

_Your reaper’s weak struggles when I hold him down and caress his skin never seize to amuse me.  
_ The third and the one from yesterday were rhymes of some sort, like the fourth and the one from today:  
 _Clad in scarlet red, might as well have bled. Another covered in midnight black, both watching the other’s back._

_The cute little dormouse tried to run, so the nasty little cat had some fun._

And then there was the letter from today:

_A shout and a clash, gone in a flash._

Trying to ignore the letters who just taunted him, he focused on those who seemed to not speak of Ronald. All in all, they had gotten three hints, not counting the one in the first letter.

A place where the sun couldn’t reach. Clad in red and black. A shout and a clash. What did it mean?

When reading the letter with the words ‘scarlet red’, he couldn’t help but think of Grell. Was this what the demon wanted him to think? Or did it just write some rubbish to give them false hope? A mislead, just because he enjoyed seeming them frustrated.

If the demon wanted him to think of Grell when writing that specific letter… _Why_? And what about the ‘covered in black’ part? Grell and Sebastian could very well be ‘red and black’. But ‘watching the other’s back’ didn’t fit if that was the case – if the demon wanted him to think of Grell and the other demon.

Who else could be the ‘black’? If it was living beings he was supposed to think of, anyway.

William scowled and looked up as the door to his office was opened.

“Will?” Grell said and walked in. Red. Everything about him was red. His hair, his clothes, his glasses… _What did the demon mean_? “Still thinking of the letters?” Grell guessed and looked at William with soft eyes.

William had showed the others the letters whenever he got a new one. They knew as much as him. And in this moment he was supposed to work, but the letters took too much of his concentration. How could he tell the others to work if he couldn’t even do so himself?

“Yes…” William said hesitantly and adjusted his glasses, sighing softly. “Especially the hints… Or riddles, we might as well say. It’s only hints when we find out what he wants to tell us.”

“You still think the demon wants us to think of me?” Grell asked and sat on William’s desk, making sure to not sit on any of the letters.

William nodded and eyed the redhead. “I’m almost certain, though it doesn’t make much sense. If you are the ‘red’, then who is the ‘black’?”

“It can be anybody,” Grell said and swung his legs slightly in thought. “Yourself, Sebas-chan, Alan, Eric… Pretty much every shinigami, ‘cause we’re all dressed in black. Apart from _me_ , of course!”

“The other hint, ‘clash and flash’, makes even less sense,” William murmured and massaged his temples.

Grell watched him in silence for half a minute before he spoke. “How much have you slept, Will?”

William glanced at him. “Not enough, that’s for sure.”

Grell rolled his eyes and hopped down from the desk. He rounded the table and stepped behind William, placing his hands on his shoulders, immediately making the stoic reaper tense up more than before.

“What are you doing?” William hissed and glared at Grell who seemed unfazed by his look.

“Giving you a massage, duh. You are _really_ tense, Will. Just relax, okay? And after my massage you’ll go home and sleep. Shinigami may not need as much sleep as humans, but we can’t go on forever without _some_ sleep. You haven’t slept for _days_ , too busy with the letters, the demon, Ronnie _and_ keeping an eye on the office. But you have fallen asleep at some point each night, ‘cause there’s always a new letter. So just stay still and enjoy,” Grell ordered and started massaging the knots in William’s back.

William wanted to argue, but didn’t see the point. “Fine. But I’ll not go home and sleep. I am staying here.”

Grell smiled slightly and continued his massage. “As you wish, Will~.”

William closed his eyes and sighed. “Has Mr. Humphries and Mr. Slingby returned from their soul-collection?”

Grell shook his head, but then remembered that William couldn’t see it and spoke instead. “No. Not yet. Are they late?”

William opened one eye to glance at the clock and nodded. “15 minutes.”

Grell rolled his eyes. “ _15 minutes_ , Will. Forget it. They’ll be here soon, I’m sure. Relax and do not think of work or anything related to that. Don’t think of the demon and Ronnie either.”

“I can’t believe I let you touch me…” William murmured. 

Grell grinned and tickled William’s neck. “Oh, Will dear~! I’m trying to resist doing _much more_ than just giving you a massage, so don’t make it harder~!”

William frowned and eyed Grell out of the corner of his eye. “Be quiet and continue.”

Grell sighed dramatically and continued to massage William’s shoulders. “You are no fun.”

William stayed silent and closed his eyes again, trying to enjoy the massage. It _did_ loosen him up, but he still thought of the problem at hand.

Where no sun can reach.

Red and black. Shout, clash and flash.  
Blood and clock. Eyes and cries.

_Damn demon_.

He frowned slightly. If only he could _remember_ …

“Shinigami-realm to Will~,” Grell breathed in William’s ear, almost succeeding in making him jump from the chair.

“Sutcliff!” he hissed and glared at the smiling redhead, having been too far gone in thoughts to realize that Grell was done with the massage. “Don’t do such things! It’s inappropriate!”

Grell sighed and crossed his arms. “You think too much. Now, go to sleep.”

William glared at Grell for a whole minute then sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll sleep in this office and in this chair.”

Grell shook his head slightly, as you do when dealing with a child that wouldn’t listen. “As you wish. But I won’t massage any knots from that. Or… Yes. I will.” He grinned and headed towards the door. Here he stopped and looked back at Will, whose eyes were on the letters again. “If you aren’t asleep within ten minutes, I’ll take those letters from you and knock you out myself.” Then he closed the door.

William sat back and closed his eyes.

Damn letters. Damn redheads. Damn demons.

William woke again when he heard the door open. How long time he had been asleep, he didn’t know. Maybe an hour or so. He blinked and focused on the red reaper. Then he frowned. Why did Grell have that look on his face? “What now?”

Grell sighed and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. “Alan had an attack while collecting souls. He’s at the nurses right now. Eric’s with him.”

William straightened up and looked at the redhead. “For how long?”

Grell shrugged. “Hard to say. A couple of days at least. The attack was bad. It hurt a lot – still does.”

William sighed and massaged his temples. “This is why I shouldn’t sleep… There’s too much to do. Sutcliff, I want you to get your own reports. All you can get. And without getting discovered.”

Grell frowned. “My own reports?”

“Yes, _your own_ ,” William hissed. “It’s possible that the enemy was one I met during one of _your_ collections. We need to check it.”

Grell watched him in silence for some seconds, before his eyes softened and he left.

William was only frustrated. That’s why he acted like he did. He was beginning to lose his cool. They had 11 days left out of 21. They had used 10 days on pretty much nothing and they weren’t closer on finding Ronald.

Grell sighed and looked through the window in William’s office, seeing said person continue to rub his temples, eyes closed.

“Poor Will…” he murmured. “And poor Ronnie, wherever he is. If only I could ask Sebas-chan…” Then he left the office.

  
As far as he could tell, he still had some days before the demon would do whatever it wanted with him. 

‘Some days’ were hope. And being trapped alone in darkness, hope was very welcome.

Ronald shuddered from the chilly room, gazing up at his hands being held above his head by handcuffs. He frowned slightly and tried for the umpteenth time in his days as prisoner to break free. This, though, he had next to no hope of. And this try didn’t do any good either.

He bit his lower lip, thinking. He still had no idea why the demon wanted revenge on William. He didn’t sense any hate towards his supervisor coming from the demon. It only seemed amused – and maybe a little mocking – whenever it mentioned his name.

The demon didn’t show more feelings than amusement and a good mood. Not even anger whenever Ronald tried to get the demon to stop stroking his cheek and jaw. Then again… It _did_ get a scowl on its face when Ronald was struggling too much as it pinned him down to caress, but no more than that.

How did the demon manage to act like that, when it couldn’t possibly like William, given that it wanted revenge and not just killed him?

So many questions, no answers. _Fucking demon_.

He was so far away in thoughts that he only noticed the demon’s presence when it placed two fingers on his neck.

Ronald snapped out of it, glaring at the smirking demon in front of him.

“Getting too distracted, are we?” the demon said teasingly, making Ronald’s eyes narrow. “How lucky we made that bet or I might have used that unawareness of yours to my advantage, sweet one.” He stroked the bite on Ronald’s neck gently. It hadn’t healed totally yet, but it healed way faster than the other wounds.

Ronald growled warningly, but the demon’s smile just widened.

He leaned down and breathed hot air into Ronald’s ear as he spoke: “You have two days left. Do you really believe your precious boss will come and save you?”

“Of course he will!” Ronald hissed, leaning as far away from the demon as he could. “And if he doesn’t, I’ll save myself!”

The demon just chuckled. “Give it up. He won’t find you in time to save you. Why not just enjoy your last time?”

Ronald hissed as the demon pinned him to the wall using its body, slipping a hand under Ronald’s clothes and making his breath hitch.

“Wha-“ the reaper began, but then a pair of lips locked over his own, effectively shutting him up. His eyes snapped open and he tried to wriggle free, but the demon just grabbed his chin and pressed against him with its body.

He uttered a muffled gasp which only gave the demon a chance to force its tongue into his mouth, making him moan weakly.

“Two days,” the demon breathed in his ear after ending the kiss, nipping it. “Two days before I’ll fully possess you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lovely, mh? I like torturing Ronald. 
> 
> Mmmh… Is there more I have to say… Nope. Don’t think so, though there probably is.
> 
> Hope I haven’t scared you away by now!
> 
> Until we meet again!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfic is so old that I barely know what's going on in each chapter, and my writing has improved much since. Hmm...
> 
> Not too sure about this chapter… Oh well. I like it, too. So if it’s bad, tell me, and if it’s good… Tell me! 
> 
> Also, I’m not sure if I do Grell justice in this chapter… Meh.
> 
> Oh well! As always, I hope this chapter does not disappoint you guys. So, read and – hopefully - enjoy~

William’s eyes were locked on the newest letter from their enemy. It read: _Your reaper’s lips are as red as a rose, and absolutely as soft._

So the demon had dared to kiss Ronald? Was that how William was supposed to understand this letter? To quote Grell: _The nerve_!

The letter he had gotten the day before hadn’t been to much help, though it had angered him. _Your reaper’s hisses when biting him is by far the most arousing thing I have ever had the joy of hearing._

William gritted his teeth and glanced at Grell who was asleep on his desk, having been too tired to go home. They had stayed up the whole night, reading the rest of Grell’s reports; those they had not finished the day before.

William had been asleep too, but had awakened by something poking him on his shoulder. He had seen nothing, but a letter had been in his hand. The one he had just read. But a letter couldn’t move on its own and William wasn’t delusional, no matter how small amount of sleep he had gotten the last few days. And if the letter hadn’t poked him, what had? If the demon… The dark-haired reaper shook his head slightly. No. That wasn’t possible. He would have felt the demon’s presence if it had been there, no doubt about that.

But then _what_? _Who_?

It was only himself and Grell in the office these days, Alan still suffering from a bad attack and Eric watching over him, refusing to do much else than just sit down beside Alan.

And they had 9 days left before the demon would kill Ronald.

William groaned softly and ran his hand through his hair. He glared at the sleeping redhead, but his look quickly softened. Grell was actually _doing_ something and not just being a lazy ass. He knew how much the absence of Ronald concerned Grell, even though he didn’t voice his worries. Grell was Ronald’s mentor, his sempai, and he had lost him; hadn’t had a chance to protect him.

And now they couldn’t find him.

Grell’s reports hadn’t told them anything. He had clashed with many demons, more so than William, but the only time William had been present had been when a demon got the upper hand and almost killed Grell, had William not stepped in and killed the demon first.

And the demon was _dead_ , he was certain of that. So it couldn’t be him either. But then… Who? He hadn’t really been with Grell on collections where they met demons. Grell, for some reason, only encountered demons when he was alone. And he always survived with minor injuries. He really was _deadly_ in fight…

William sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in thought. He hadn’t been with Alan and Eric either on their collections, so it was very unlikely that they would learn something from reading their reports.

And when thinking of the hints they had gotten so far… _Who_ was the enemy? _And why didn’t he remember?_

William let out a sigh of frustration and opened his eyes, only to find Grell looking at him. “What is the matter?”

“You are over-thinking things again,” Grell murmured and placed his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the table. “I’m almost willing to bet my death scythe that when we finally figure all this out, we’ll scold ourselves for not guessing it sooner.”

“What do you propose we do, then?” William said coolly, locking eyes with Grell. “Mr. Humphries and Mr. Slingby are not here, so it’s only the two of us. What can we do?”

“We can always do _something_ ,” Grell spoke softly. “If I could talk with Seba-“

“You will not say that vermin’s name!” William spat and glared at the other. “You _know_ we can’t tell anybody about this. And no, that _filth_ will want to know everything and he will know when you’re lying or avoiding the truth,” he added icily as he saw Grell open his mouth to say something. “And how can you even _consider_ asking a _demon_ , when the one holding Mr. Knox, your junior, captive is a demon too?”

Grell flinched slightly and William knew he had said something he shouldn’t have, but he just _didn’t care_. He wanted to find Ronald, but their enemy left them with hints he couldn’t figure out, hints he wasn’t even sure were hints!

“Seb-” Grell said, fidgeting, but changed his mind and said, “ _He_ isn’t like other de-“

“He may not be feasting in souls like many other, but he’s still a demon. A natural enemy to shinigami. He might be slightly better than the rest of them, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay to be around. He is still a demon, he still eats souls, he still meddles in our business and most importantly, he’s our enemy.”

Grell avoided eye contact and folded his arms, looking a bit sad. “You like Ronald, don’t you?”

William was taken aback by the sudden question – or statement – but was quick to collect himself again. “I fail to see how this had got anything to do with-“

“Just answer me, Will,” Grell interrupted. “Yes or no?”

“By liking one of my subordinates, I’d be going against the rules and guideli-“

“Now _you’re_ the one to not answer,” Grell said with a tired smile, although his eyes still showed pain. “Yes or no?”

William looked at him for what seemed like forever before he sighed softly and said: “Yes.”

Grell nodded slightly. “I thought so. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but when I see you now… Frustrated and angry, more so than you’d be if one of us disappeared-“

“Sutcliff, you know that’s not-“ William tried, but Grell shushed him.

“Shut up and let me speak. I understand why you are less composed now than you would be if any of us were taken. It’s only natural. Eric would kill to ensure Alan’s safety. Even one of us, if wewere in his way. You’d go against the rules and guidelines of shinigami to save Ronald. You would kill too. That’s love. I’d kill to save you, and you me, but with other reasons. You see it as duty to save your co-worker, while I will save my beloved.

And because I love you… I am willing to let you go. Your happiness is more important than mine. Besides, if you let something go and it never comes back, it was never yours to begin with.” The last words were choked out and William cringed.

“Grell-“ he began, using the other’s first name, but said person held out a hand to silence him.

“Don’t,” he said, voice barely a whisper. “I need to be alone. I’ll come back and help you think of something regarding this problem as soon as I can.” With those words he left, red coat fluttering after him. How did the conversation go from the butler to William’s feelings for Ronald anyway?

William buried his face in his hands, sighing deeply.

He knew Grell loved him. But he had never and would never love the redhead back. Grell should have known that long ago. If he was honest with himself, Grell was a friend and had been so ever since their first collection together, despite his annoying and flamboyant person.

But he’d never be a lover.

“Spears?” Eric’s familiar voice said from the door. “What has happened? I saw Sutcliff hurry down the hall, obviously crying. It’s not Ronald, right?”

William gazed up and saw the blond reaper standing in the doorway, a securing hold on a certain worried brunette at his side. “No. Can’t say it’s him. Grell is only being overly emotional right now. Leave him be.”

Alan and Eric didn’t look convinced, but they didn’t voice their doubts. Smart move.

“You got more letters, right?” Alan said softly, leaning on Eric. Apparently he wasn’t feeling that well yet, but the situation with Ronald seemed to have him out of the sickbed as quick as possible.

William nodded mutely and straightened up. He reached for the two newest letters; those Eric and Alan hadn’t seen yet because of Alan’s recent attack.

Eric came closer, gently pulling Alan with him, and took the letters. He held it so Alan could read too, both of them quickly reading.

Alan let out a breath and looked at William, frowning. “The letters are getting worse. Do you think..?” William held up a hand to silence him, just as Grell had done. He didn’t want to think about what the demon would do. The thought of the demon doing anything vulgar to Ronald was simply unbearable. “I know. And I’m not letting anything happen. We will find the demon and Mr. Knox before the demon lays his filthy hands on him.”

Alan nodded quietly and placed the letters on William’s table again.

Despite speaking to William, Eric’s eyes were focused intently on Alan’s back: “It’s not necessarily what the demon wants. He might just write _something_ to piss us off.”

“There are other methods to anger someone,” Alan commented gently.

“Indeed. But it all depends on what will anger us the most.” Eric was now staring intently on William. “What will anger _you_ the most.”

William gritted his teeth, sensing where this was going. “I will _not_ speak of this matter again.”

“Again?” Alan repeated and looked wonderingly at William. “What do you mean by that?”

Eric smirked and tilted his head, crossing his arms and looking exactly like the smug bastard he was. “So _that’s_ what you and Sutcliff were fighting about, huh?”

William rested his elbows on the desk and massaged his temples. Why was it again he worked with such individuals? He’d end up with a chronic headache.

“Forget it,” he sighed. “It’s not important. What’s important right now is to understand these letters so we can find Ronald. Sutcliff and I looked through his reports, but found nothing. So we are left clueless again.”

Eric nodded, not saying more of the thing between William and Grell. “There must be something. What about the letters with hints? If we think that Sutcliff is the ‘red’?” “It doesn’t make sense,” William said slowly, frowning. “He might be the red, but then there is another problem: Who’s the black?”

Alan nodded and folded his arms, looking tired. Must be the thorns. “If only you could remember, Mr. Spears… Then it would make sense.” “I have tried,” William said. “But I can’t remember anything important.”

“Try,” Eric said and guided a somewhat resistant Alan towards the door. “Even the smallest thing will help. On another matter, Alan needs sleep, so can we leave? I’ll take paperwork with me if necessary.”

William shook his head and looked at them. “Go on. I won’t stop you. But be back tomorrow morning.”

* * *

 

Five days had gone by and each new letter they got angered William more than the previous one.

He sat with the newest letter from the morning, reading it again and again. _Your reaper’s blood is some of the most delicious I have ever had the chance of tasting._

With four days back and as clueless as ever, he snapped at everyone and everything.

Grell had come back some hours after his little outburst and William had admitted to Grell being his best friend. Grell had reminded the stoic reaper of a smiling lunatic after that.

Grell had confessed after that, that he shortly after discovering that William liked Ronald had hated the younger with a passion. But only for the first hours after that, where after he had calmed down and _thought_ about it. He couldn’t hate Ronald, no matter what. Besides, it wasn’t _his_ fault that William liked _him_ and not _Grell_.

Grell had also said, that he at least could accept William’s ‘love’, as he had worded it.

Love… William doubted that what he felt for Ronald was _love_. But then again, he had never loved another before, so how could he be sure?

The dark-haired reaper let his eyes roam over the other four letters. Out of the four, one of them was another hint: _The location is forever hidden in shadows, apart from the few moments a day, when the sun will hold them at bay._

The demon seemed to like rhymes. The hint pointed towards a forest where the trees would hide the location away, but they couldn’t be sure.

Two of the four letters were to tease: _I have never heard as lovely a sound as your reaper’s cry of despair._

_How I enjoy making your reaper squirm underneath me, even beg._

Those letters… Together with the one from today, they infuriated William to the point where he almost couldn’t resist the wanting to throw something at the glass or the walls.

The last letter of the four was another rhyme. _Things seem to have gone awry, I wonder, when is the time to say goodbye?_

Annoying bastard. Taunting them and playing unfair. How could they find Ronald within four days when they didn’t even know where to begin?

Four days… “Spacing out again?” Grell’s voice sounded close to him and he shot up, scowling slightly at the redhead.

“What did I tell you about breathing into one’s ears?”

No. The flamboyant idiot hadn’t stopped teasing him, even though William had admitted liking Ronald.

“Oh~! I think you told me you liked it~.” He supposed he should be happy that the redhead was in a good mood again.

Hot air met his ear again and he scowled.

Yeah. _Right_.

“Sutcliff, get back to work or I’ll penetrate you with my death scythe!” William hissed.

Grell raised an eyebrow, showing off his fangs in a smirk. “Oh my, Will~. You’re more than welcome to ‘penetrate’ me with your ‘dea’- Iiiih! Not my face!”

He retreated several steps, hands in front of his face so William’s death scythe wouldn’t harm it.

“I do not appreciate innuendos,” William said sternly.

“Even if it was yourself who started it?” Grell grinned.

“It’s how _you_ turned my words crude and not how I said them. Now, _get out_ and do your work or I’ll scar your face,” William said.

Grell pouted, but left nevertheless, mumbling about how he couldn’t _work when Ronnie’s gone_ and how William was a _heartless man_. Apparently a death scythe to his face didn’t sound too appealing. Who would have guessed?

At daybreak the following day, William awoke because of something poking him on the shoulder. A second went by where he thought about how he could have fallen asleep again, but then he snapped up and looked around, seeing nothing amiss.

A letter was placed in his hands, though.

_When friendship is torn apart, revenge will come and take your heart._

* * *

 

The room was totally silent, if you ignored the ragged breathing and occasional sound of something rustling.

“Come on…” Ronald muttered and pulled the chains. “You can’t be _that_ tight!”

But yes, they were. They didn’t move a single millimetre and he had been trying for hours now. He let out a whine and leaned against the wall with his front, breathing heavily.

“Damn it…” he whispered. “ _Damn it_!”

A finger on his chin made him freeze and turn around to face the smiling demon. It leaned towards him and breathed in his ear: “Time’s up.”

“No!” Ronald cried and tried to kick the demon. “ _Get away from me!_ ”

“We made a deal, sweet one,” the demon chuckled and kneeled down by him, grabbing his chin in a tight hold and turning him around so they were chest to chest. “If William hadn’t found you within seven days, I’d take you. Time’s up, Ronnie.”

“Nononono!” the young reaper said as the demon’s hand slid under his dirty clothes, caressing his bare skin.

“Shh~,” the demon murmured gently in Ronald’s ear. “It won’t hurt… Much.”

Ronald whimpered almost inaudibly, but the demon caught the sound and grinned. “Are you scared, little one? Don’t be.”

He released his grip on Ronald’s chin and stroked his cheek instead with his thumb. “You are unbelievable alluring, love. More so than anything else I have laid my eyes on… If you overlook certain souls.”

The demon grinned and leaned forward, kissing Ronald’s lips softy, almost like lovers. It would have made Ronald puke, had he had something in his stomach. Instead, he tried to bite the demon’s lips. This, however, seemed to have the wrong effect; the demon just chuckled quietly and stuck his tongue into Ronald’s mouth. The kiss wasn’t gentle any longer, more dominating and hot.

How come his body felt so warm when the room was so cold? He wouldn’t believe it was the demon making him feel this. It _couldn’t_ be.

A pant escaped him as the demon moved its lips to his neck, kissing the bite mark softly. Then it kissed the other side of his neck, licking shortly before piercing the skin once again.

Ronald made another try to pry the demon off him, but without hands that was pretty much impossible.

“Sit still,” the demon ordered as it withdrew from the bite, licking away the blood as it had done with the other. “Or I’ll have to force you. And _that_ , I promise you, will hurt.”

Ronald ignored him. He _couldn’t_ let this happen! He just couldn’t. He tried to kick the demon where it _really_ hurt, but it just pinned his legs together using his own.

“I won’t say it again,” it warned and locked eyes with Ronald. “ _Sit still_.”

But the young reaper tried to harm the demon in any way he could; teeth, legs, elbows, _everything_ he could think of.

The demon sighed and threw Ronald to the ground, the extendable chains once again showing their worth. The demon pinned him to the ground, ignoring his hiss of pain when it touched his stomach, using his legs and arms to keep him down.

Then the demon leaned down, biting Ronald’s ear slightly. “I warned you,” he growled softly and sneaked a hand towards the younger’s pants. Ronald let out a cry of horror when it slid under and a cold hand folded around him, beginning to stroke.

“Mh~,” the demon smirked and looked at the writhing reaper underneath him who was breathing heavily. “Enjoying this, little one?”

Ronald just bit his lip and refused to meet the demon’s eyes.

The demon laughed and caressed his cheek gently with his free hand. He smiled. “I take that as a yes, then.” He leaned down and kissed him again, satisfied at how the reaper’s struggles seemed to become weaker. If this was because of the youth’s reaction to his touches or simply because he was too weak from the wounds and not being fed, he couldn’t tell. Not that it really mattered.

When the demon moved his lips to Ronald’s neck, he heard a soft gasp and smiled in satisfaction. His hand began to unbutton the boy’s dirty jacket while kissing said person’s neck.

“D-don’t…” Ronald said with a pant, looking at the demon – still avoiding eye contact, though. “Please… Do-don’t…” “Mh?” The demon raised an eyebrow, watching the reaper. “You don’t like it?”

Ronald shook his head and then let out a whimper as the demon’s hand grabbed him more forcefully. “D-don’t,” he choked out and then drew in a sharp intake of breath when the demon slid a finger down his by now aching member teasingly.

“You’re hot, love,” the demon hummed and placed a soft kiss on the reaper’s lips. “What you really want is this, isn’t it?” He grinned and continued his teasing of the reaper’s body, finally getting the jacket unbuttoned. He then proceeded with the waistcoat, which was a tad more difficult, and then the tie and the plain white shirt. Or… Would have been white, but was now dirtied by dry blood and whatnot. While doing all this, he was of course being thoughtful of the blond’s wounds.

A low moan escaped the reaper’s lips by the time his torso was exposed to the chilly air in the room. The demon’s hand, the one not busy with a specific body part, was now caressing his stomach gently, carefully avoiding the wound.

The demon bit Ronald’s neck again, though this time it wasn’t to leave a mark as deep as the two others. It was just to tease and provoke the shinigami further.

Ronald’s breathing was heavy and he desperately tried to keep any sounds caused by the demon in by biting his teeth together. Now and then, though, a moan or a gasp would make way through his lips. Why was the demon doing this to him? Why couldn’t it just get it over with? Why provoke all these traitorous reactions from his body? He didn’t _want_ his body to react, but it had else in mind and didn’t listen to the brain at all.

And _fuck_ , the demon’s _hand_!

Another sound made it past his lips at a certain touch, though he desperately tried to keep it in.

 _Why_?

His pants were uncomfortably tight and the demon didn’t help his situation _one bit_. Or… It kind of _did_ , but Ronald didn’t want to think of it that way.

Soon he couldn’t keep the moans in any longer, now panting uncontrollably. And that was the time the demon chose to withdraw his hand, smiling down at the reaper whose eyes were by now lust-filled, despite his situation. The reaper looked up at him in a confused daze.

The demon leaned down to his ear, whispering: “Beg for me.”

“No-“ A touch. “Ah… I won’t eve-“ Another touch. “Ngh!”

So he wasn’t _that_ far gone in pleasure.

The demon’s hand retreated totally, making Ronald utter a whimper against his will. He couldn’t… It ached… He needed…

“ _Beg_ ,” the demon hissed and nipped Ronald’s ear teasingly.

“Hah…” Ronald breathed. “Ngh… I-… P-please…”

The demon smirked and complied, his hand once again grabbing the other’s length.

Ronald bit down hard on his lip, almost drawing blood, and closed his eyes. Was that..? No. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry for a demon. He _couldn’t_.

Not much time went by before Ronald came with a choked cry, pressing his eyes tightly together and panting.

The demon released him and withdrew his hand, licking his fingers slowly. “Sweet one, indeed…” he murmured and leaned down, kissing Ronald softly on his lips.

Shortly after he pulled back, now licking and nipping Ronald’s neck and shoulders. Then he grabbed Ronald and pulled him up on his lap, undressing the reaper’s torso fully instead of only baring his chest, letting the clothes fall down on the ground together with Ronald’s gloves. He turned him around so the youth’s back was leaning against his chest.

“Mh, love,” he purred and licked Ronald’s neck, continuing down to his bare shoulder. “I think it’s about time I had some fun too, don’t you agree?” His hand trailed down to the hem of Ronald’s pants, toying with it.

Ronald, having been too dazed to be aware of his surroundings, caught the demon’s last words. His eyes widened and he began to struggle, only working as entertainment for the demon who sneaked its arm around his waist, holding him tightly against its warm chest.

“I believe it is,” the demon spoke softly and adjusted their position slightly, Ronald still sitting in his lap with his back against its front. He breathed in Ronald’s ear, saying: “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you enjoy this too.”

Ronald screamed.

And he cried.

And he begged.

All of it, to no avail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmh… I really hope this chapter didn’t disappoint you. I am trying, but so far I am not satisfied with any of the chapters, though the prologue is closest at being satisfying. The problem with this chapter is probably their feelings - or lack thereof. I don't feel they get frustrated enough, knowing Ronald is being held captive by a demon…
> 
> I haven’t written anything man x man, so sorry if it is a bit… Well. Not good or whatever. Even though it isn’t t that graphic. Eh.
> 
> Aeh… More? Nope. Don’t think so.
> 
> Well, hope you enjoyed, dearies!
> 
> (Ignore the 'note' underneath, if you see it, too. It fucks up. Sigh.)


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah, back to the very lengthy chapters.
> 
> Well, this chapter will be followed by the epilogue/chapter 6 and then it’ll be over. How sad. Truly sad. 
> 
> This chapter, though! … I dunno. Some parts I like more than others, but oh well. Pft. To Hell with it.
> 
> Hope this does not disappoint. And, as said in the previous chapter, I hope the characters aren’t too OOC. I’m afraid of that… Especially in this chapter.

William would thank the letter about a ’friendship torn apart’, because it was that that led to his dream and made almost everything fall into place. For some reason, he dreamed about that one time when Grell had almost been killed, leading to William killing a demon.

Most importantly, he remembered the last words from the furious demon.

William awoke from the sleep after that, heart racing at this realization.

His gaze moved to the windows in the office, seeing his subordinates working. How come they hadn’t woken him up? Probably because they knew he didn’t sleep much these days.

He made a move to stand but halted abruptly, seeing a new letter out of the corner of his eyes. He reached forward to take the piece of paper, eyes quickly scanning its content.

Only to reread it again, eyes narrowing and fists clenching.

No. Fucking. Way.

 _Your reaper’s moans when possessing him, making him mine forever, are a beautiful sound._ The demon had… Ronald… William’s breath hitched in his throat and he read the letter again. He had suspected the demon would do that, yet he hadn’t _done_ anything to prevent it…

For the first time he could remember, his cool crashed and he let out a furious shout, throwing the now crumpled letter to the ground.

This, needless to say, immediately alerted the others who banished all their work – not that they had been doing it in first place – and hurried inside William’s office.

“Will?”

“Spears?”

“Mr. Spears?”

Three different voices, each calling out for him, making William shift his burning glare to them.

“Will!” Grell exclaimed at the look in his eyes, standing beside him in a matter of nanoseconds and grapping his arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Whatever it is, don’t say it’s something about Ronald,” Eric said slowly.

William’s answer was a nod.

Alan gasped quietly. “The time limit isn’t over. Then… What…”

“Where is the letter?” Eric asked tentatively.

William raised his arm - the one Grell didn’t have a grasp in – and pointed at the spot on the floor where the piece of paper had been thrown.

Grell had gathered it up in his hands a second after, shrieking when his eyes had roamed over it.

“No! Nonono! Not to Ronald! How dare he!”

Eric grabbed the paper from Grell’s shaking hands, reading it together with Alan.

Alan’s reaction was a hand to his mouth, letting out a muffled sound. Eric cursed loudly, almost tearing the letter apart.

“Tell me you have got something,” he growled and looked at William, his eyes burning with a passionate hatred towards the demon. “ _Anything_ , Spears. This-“

“I know,” William said softly, leaning down and rummaging with the letters spread out on his table, picking up three of them. “I know what the demon is referring to. I have figured it out.”

“Then tell us already!” Grell hissed, obviously upset about the news on Ronald. But who wasn’t?

“You were right, Grell,” William said quietly. “It _was_ easy in the end. It all goes years back when you fought that demon, almost getting killed. ‘ _Clad in scarlet red, might as well have bled_ ’ is indeed referring to you. You were wounded, bleeding from several gashes, and you were, as always, dressed in red. ‘ _Another dressed in midnight black, each watching the other’s back_ ’ is referring to us both. I ‘watched your back’ by saving you. And, as all shinigami, I was, and am, dressed in black.”

The others were silent and stared at him, so he continued. “The following letter, ‘ _A shout and clash, gone in a flash_ ’, is talking about you, the demon and me. You let out a yell when you thought the demon would end your life with a stab using your own death scythe, but I came in between, blocking the attack. Then I killed the demon. _Gone_.

The letter from yesterday, _‘When friendship is torn apart, revenge will take your heart’_ , is about the demon’s friend, of Mr. Knox and of me. The demons’ friendship was torn apart when I killed the demon, so ‘revenge’, the demon’s friend, takes my ‘heart’, Mr. Knox, as a mean of revenge.”

He started pacing, still speaking. “When I killed the demon its last words were: “ _He will not forgive you for this! He will take revenge! My friend will make sure that you feel the same amount of pain as he will when he hears you killed me!_ ” Naturally, I awaited the so-called revenge for years, but ended up seeing it as a mere threat; nothing serious. That was…” He paused to count for a second. “- A few _decades_ ago and was shortly after Sutcliff and I had passed the exams at the Academy. A couple of years after that.”

“Then… What about the location?” Alan was the first to voice everyone’s thoughts.

William clenched his hands, letting out a deep breath. “That’s the part I’m not sure about yet. Mr. Knox can practically be _everywhere_ in London.”

Eric frowned. “What then? We have _three_ days to find him. We know _why_ , but not _where_. What do we do?”

William was quiet for a moment.

Yes, what _were_ they going to do?

They knew that Ronald was kept hidden a place where the sun couldn’t reach. A room with no windows, they all suspected. They were also told that the location – house, hut, _cave_ – was to be found somewhere the sun couldn’t reach, apart for some hours a day.

Did they know more?

Ah yes. He was kept hidden somewhere in London, of course. What a great help that was.

If William was fair, that actually _was_ quite a lead. London may be large, but in comparison to the _world_ , it was nothing.

But all this wasn’t _enough_ to find Ronald within three days. If they had to look every house, first finding those that fit with the hints, each house might take about 10 minutes, depending on size and hidden rooms and whatnot. And they still had to hide from humans.

And that was only the houses; there were still forests among other things. And work too, of course. They couldn’t just leave. How could they ever make it in time?

“Mr. Spears?” Alan said worriedly, shaking William out of his musings.

He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know. We don’t have enough time.”

He turned quiet again, this time because of something that made his heart ache terribly and his hands clench. He felt burning rage, but also very _guilty_.

William was their supervisor; he was supposed to make sure nothing _immensely_ dangerous happened to them. He was supposed to be clever and collected. He was _not_ supposed to get feelings for a certain blond and therefore not being able to keep calm.

If William wasn’t calm he would lose the others’ respect and they would stop listening to him.

But not being able to save Ronald before that _monster_ laid its _filthy_ hands on him… _That_ he just couldn’t bear.

He had let his subordinate, his _love interest_ , be taken by a demon. He would never forgive himself if he let Ronald die by the demon’s hands, too.

And drastic situations call for drastic measures. “Mr. Slingby, Mr. Humphries and Sutcliff,” William spoke, finally back to being the one giving the orders.

The others looked expectantly at him.

“We have three days to find Mr. Knox. His life is main priority – work comes second. You’ll search all over London using the information we have got so far. Every corner and every hidden room. Avoid being seen. I will hopefully never say this to you again, but you will not work until Mr. Knox is brought back here. When someone questions your lack of work – and they _will_ \- you’ll say nothing more than you’re following my orders. Our enemy spoke of consequences only if we told others of this matter. If we don’t say a word until Mr. Knox is safely back with us, the demon won’t do anything as long as he is playing fair.” William paused for a moment, locking eyes with the three. “Am I making myself perfectly clear?”

“Yes,” the three answered simultaneously.

William allowed himself an almost nonexistent smile of satisfaction. “Good. Now go. You’ll start immediately. How you do it is up to you, as long as you cause no trouble and are effective.”

Eric smirked, Grell showed off his fangs in a grin, eyes flashing, and Alan had a harder look in his eyes than usually.

“Yes, Will~,” Grell sang and headed out, summoning his death scythe just for the thrill of it and was quickly followed by Eric and Alan.

When they had left William allowed himself a deep sigh, grapping the table as he leant over it and looked down, his eyes going soft.

He couldn’t let his frustrations and guilt get to him just yet. He _had_ to keep strong for the others.

William slowly went to grab the paper from his desk; the letter from earlier. The small piece of paper crumpled in his hold, his eyes flashing with determination.

“I’ll get Ronald back, just you wait and see, demon. I’ll find him and save him from your grasp before the time runs out. Mark my words.”

With that he threw the letter on the ground, leaving the office.

He had a certain blond to find and a demon to take care of.

Preferably _painfully._

* * *

 

Dim eyes were watching the roof above, only blinking when absolutely necessary.

 _“This is solely your own body’s reaction,” the demon breathed as it thrust vigorously into him. “My demonic powers have nothing to do with this. I might have the ability to seduce with a single touch or sweet words, but I have done nothing like that to you; this is your_ own _reaction to my actions. You enjoy it. You wish for me to take you roughly, don’t you, dear Ronald? You can’t get your precious William, so you let a demon, your natural_ enemy _, pleasure you and_ be _pleasured by you.”_

He wanted to die. The shame was unbearable.

 _“You truly are despicable,” the demon hissed and kissed Ronald feverously, forcing his tongue into the other’s mouth and causing him to moan. “Getting all flustered and hot with lust. How can you feel this when the one you like is William? How can you let another take you, a_ demon _, even? What would William say?”_

Tears had begun sliding down his cheek. If he had been able to think coherently, he would have wondered how he had more tears to shed. Hadn’t he cried enough?

_“Shush, little reaper,” the demon said, gently wiping the tears off Ronald’s cheeks. “Why are you crying when you want this?” it asked and kissed him softly on the lip, almost as a lover. But it would never be a lover. Never. “Your eyes betray you and tell me of your lust for me.” It slid a hand down to Ronald’s lower region, smiling as the youth let out a shaky breath. “You are as sinful as a demon, love.”_

He wasn’t even aware of the hand now wiping away his tears, as had it had done several times by now. He had cried so much in the start, but in the end, he had given in.

_“Beg for me,” the demon hissed and hit just that one spot inside of Ronald that made him cry out. “Beg for me, and I’ll please you. Just one word, it’s all it takes.”_

_Ronald had tried to keep quiet, oh, he had tried. But the demon had run a hand teasingly down his length and he had groaned and arched his back, the movement causing the other to move inside him._

_Salty tears slid down his cheeks and hit the ground beneath him. He let out a whimper and moved slightly, moaning softly as he felt the other again._

_“So sinful…” the demon chuckled and leaned over him, chest pressing against Ronald’s back, licking the other’s throat. “Beg, Ronald. Beg for me and I’ll make sure you scream when you reach your limit._ Beg _.”_

_“No…” Ronald sobbed and clenched his hands, reopening the small wounds he had made earlier with his nails and drawing fresh, red blood. “Please, no! I won’t! Get off! Leave me alone!”_

_The demon pressed further into him and Ronald let out a choked cry. “Beg, love,” it hissed and thrust into him again. “Beg for me so I can smell that sweet scent of sin from you. You want this so_ badly _, Ronnie. Don’t deny it; it’s a fact.”_

_“I can’t…” Ronald cried and panted. “Please, leave me. Please…”_

_“That’s not it, Ronald,” the demon whispered in his ear and grabbed his hips as he began thrusting faster into him and hit that spot again. “Just say the word, Ronald, and I’ll make you feel good.”_

_As Ronald moaned loudly again the demon stroked his lower region. “Don’t…” Ronald breathed shakily._

_“You know you want it,” the demon said and showered Ronald’s neck with kisses. “_ Beg _, love.”_

_Ronald let out a whimper as the demon once again hit that special spot inside of him. “I… I want…”_

_“Yes?” the demon smiled and slid its hand up Ronald’s length._

_Ronald let out a choked sob and would have died right there on the spot. “Please…”_

How could he ever face William and the others after this? He had begged the demon! Not once, but twice! He wanted to die. He might as well die of shame. And remembering the pain he had felt as the demon had entered him the first time, he would have let out a whimper, but no sound escaped his lips.

 _“No!” Ronald screamed as he felt the demon penetrate him, slowly and unprepared. The pain. Everything he could think of was that_ awful _pain. He cried and begged the demon to stop, but it just kept thrusting into him, not caring that the reaper underneath him was screaming and crying._

_Pain. Horrible pain was all he felt._

He wanted to die.

The demon watched the limp reaper whose head was placed in his lap. The youth didn’t even register the demon’s fingers playing with his hair.

“Ronald,” he breathed and caressed the blond’s bare shoulder. Ronald didn’t even seem aware of him. “You are _mine_ now, do you understand? No one else will have you now. You have been dirtied. You belong to _me_ , and no one else. William will never look at you again. He would never want a tainted soul.”

He smiled as he watched the tears slide down Ronald’ cheeks, though the other didn’t seem aware of the fact. He wiped them away, touching the boy’s lips with a finger.

“Ronald,” he whispered again. The other blinked owlishly and turned his empty stare to him. “I own you now. You belong solely to me. No one else will ever want to be with you. Do you understand?” He watched with satisfaction the reaper’s eyes close in submission, as they had done shortly after he had taken him the first time. He had fought and cried, oh, yes he had, but it had only been in the start. After the first time, he had given up and let the demon do what it wanted without resisting. He had still cried though. He had sobbed like a little child. “One day left…” he spoke softly. Then he smiled and leant back against the wall, caressing the reaper’s upper body and playing with his hair.

“No matter how fun the mouse might be, the cat will always kill it in the end.”

* * *

 

4 hours, 39 minutes and 22 seconds. That’s how long they had left to find Ronald, according to the daily letter. _When the dials points towards 12 tonight, it is time to say the final goodnight._

4 hours, 38 minutes and 58 seconds was left now, and time went by faster than William liked.

He was frustrated, oh, so very frustrated. They had yet to search a small part of London and they hadn’t found anything the last two days. Barely five hours wasn’t nearly enough time.

Where could Ronald be?

The higher ups had taken note of the lack of reports from William and his subordinates and had asked him about it. William had refused to answer clearly. They respected William, but respect wasn’t enough. They weren’t exactly patient and if was a no-go to not do the work you were supposed to. Sooner or later they would force him to answer their questions. When William, one of the most serious reapers you’d ever meet, didn’t answer, they, needless to say, got curious, but they had yet to stick their noses in his business.

 _Yet_. It was only a matter of time. Everything was about time, wasn’t it?

William sighed and looked over the houses from where he was standing on a roof.

Things didn’t bode well for them. Especially not for Ronald. The letter from the day before hinted towards that.

_The eyes of a reaper are a glowing green and yellow, so tell me, why have these turned dull?_

Things didn’t bode well, if the letters spoke the truth. And everything pointed towards that, unfortunately.

The demon had, according to the letters, laid its filthy hands on Ronald. Touched him and doing far worse than just that. William had promised himself and the others that they would find Ronald before anything like that happened, and he had failed them and himself by not keeping that promise.

And, most importantly, he had let Ronald down. He had failed him.

How could he call himself their supervisor, when he couldn’t even help them?

Ronald was being held captive and his captor would kill him in 4 hours and 34 minutes. Alan was suffering from an incurable disease and had to endure some painful attacks because of that. Eric suffered from this, too, because he couldn’t do a single thing to ease his pain, let alone cure him. Grell suffered, no matter how happy and idiotic he might seem, from a broken heart because William didn’t return his feelings.

How come they, even after all this, _still_ worked for him and followed his orders? As much as they would ever do, anyway.

William shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. There was no time for getting all sentimental. When they found Ronald and saved him, and _only_ after that, would he allow himself a moment where he would let his shoulders drop and he could think of all the guilt and whatnot.

But not before _that_. Not before this situation at hand had been solved.

His eyes fell on a small house surrounded by bigger buildings and came to think of the whole ordeal that led to this day and this problem.

Grell had been hurt badly in the fight against the demon and had sat on his knees when the demon had lunged for him with his own scythe.

William, who had been looking for Grell because of some missing reports, had come by just that very moment and had reacted instinctively; he had attacked using his own death scythe and had hit the demon right in the chest only seconds before it would have killed Grell.

Grell had, in the belief that he was going to die, screamed when the demon had moved for the final hit, but when the demon had slumped down in front of him, his screams had died.

Oh, he had punished Grell with loads of overwork, that little…

Wait a second.

A small house surrounded by bigger buildings?

 _The location is forever hidden in shadows, apart from a few moments a day, when the sun will hold them at bay_.

It fit. A house with bigger houses surrounding it was hidden in shadows because of the other buildings shielding it from the sun. Only a few hours a day, when the sun would be just above that very house, would the sun shine on it.

William almost laughed out loud. How cliché. Holding Ronald captive where it all started, precisely as a typical villain would.

_Why hadn’t they seen it sooner?_

_If_ Ronald was there, of course.

William set after the others with renewed hope.

4 hours, 29 minutes and 3 seconds.

They still had time.

* * *

Red eyes were watching the blond as he just laid there with his lead in his lap, unmoving and barely breathing. Oh, how he loved to watch the broken figure of Ronald. The reaper didn’t react to anything the demon said at all. It didn’t stop him from talking, though.

He chuckled and raised one of his hands, smiling when the raven landed on his fingers. “It’s lovely, don’t you agree?” he purred and stroked the bird’s feathers. He looked down at Ronald, his smile getting broader. “You have been such an easy target, little one,” he breathed and brushed Ronald’s lips with a finger. “So easy to break, though you did give up a fight. How sad it is that I’ll have to end this game soon. And by the looks of it, I’ll come out as the winner. I would have loved to shatter your soul beyond the point where it could be reached and brought back again. But…” He chuckled again and grasped the younger’s chin, leaning down and kissing him softly on the lips. “… But then again, I might have already done that. How truly sad.”

He laughed quietly and trailed his hand down Ronald’s bare body, pausing at his nether region.

Not a single reaction.

“Your soul is tainted… And you are beyond repair. Nothing will ever lead you back to life… If a shinigami is even alive in the first place, that is.”

He smiled and looked at the raven. “It’s delicious, don’t you agree, my friend?”

The raven cackled and set off from his hand, landing on the ground beside Ronald. There it just stood and watched the reaper with its dark eyes.

The demon chuckled and placed a hand on each of Ronald’ cheeks, kissing him again.

No reaction this time either.

The demon found it immensely amusing.

“Oh, you poor soul…” the demon smiled and once again brushed his lips over Ronald’s. “I wonder… How does the soul of a reaper taste?”

“Keep wondering; you won’t ever find out,” an icy voice spoke, quickly followed by something pressing against his throat. “Get. Away. From. Him.”

“Oh!” the demon laughed and stood up, smiling as the raven flew up to stand on his shoulder, letting Ronald stay on the cold and dirty ground. “Looks like you made it in time, after all. Or… Did you?”

Grell let out a high-pitched shriek when the demon used his foot to tilt Ronald’s head so his eyes were looking towards William and not the roof. “ _Keep away from him!_ ”

In a flash of red Grell was with Ronald, kneeling down at his side and using his own – or, more precisely, Madame Red’s – coat to cover Ronald’s naked body. He cradled the other in his arms, letting his head rest between his shoulder blades. “Ronald…” he whispered and ran a hand through the limp boy’s hair.

William’s eyes narrowed at the sight and pressed his scythe further into the demon’s skin, drawing blood. “I’ll tell you one last time: Step away from Mr. Knox.”

The demon chuckled and raised his hands in a friendly gesture, moving towards William. “As you wish, William.”

Alan joined Grell on the ground where he sat with Ronald in his arms, whispering something to Grell who shook his head vigorously. Eric joined them for now, keeping an eye on the demon and William.

“Why?” William spoke quietly, watching the demon carefully. “Why him?”

The demon smiled and shifted his gaze to Ronald and the other three. “Why him? Simple. I wanted to get to you where it hurt the most.

The original plan was to take the redhead, given that he was the one you saved that fateful day. But when I saw how annoying you seemed to find him… My eyes fell on a certain blond. That little cute boy… Who was so in love with you, even though you couldn’t see so yourself, despite how obvious it was.

Instead, you longed for him in silence, too, and you never got further than watching the other at a distance, both not daring to tell the other of your feelings.

How sad… How truly sad. And that’s why the poor boy is now being comforted by the redhead; because he loves you and you love him. What’s better than ruining that?”

William didn’t know what to be most chocked at. That Ronald did, apparently, love him back, or the fact that the demon probably knew any little detail about him?

“You _demon_ …” William scowled and readjusted his grip on his scythe, pressing it against the demon’s throat.

“Oh, another smart one,” the demon smirked.

William glared shortly at the demon before glancing at the others. Or, to be more specific, Ronald.

Grell had stopped trying to get Ronald to react, instead just cradling him tightly and running his hand through his hair reassuringly. Ronald’s head was placed on Grell’s shoulder, his legs thrown over Grell’s lap. He looked like a doll.

What scared William the most was not seeing how his youngest subordinate didn’t react at all, but how his eyes were just staring at nothing, unfocused and dull. Exactly as the letter had said.

“What have you done?” William asked softly and shifted his eyes to the demon. “What have you _done_?”

Anger. That burning anger was everything William felt. But he couldn’t let himself lose his cool. They had yet to get back to the shinigami-realm with Ronald. And they had yet to deal with the demon who was looking at William at this very moment, laughing quietly.

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?” the demon smiled and stroked the bird’s wings. “I thought the letters I sent told you enough.”

William clenched his hands. So it was true… Not that he had had any doubts when seeing Ronald lying there with the demon, his whole body exposed and doing absolutely nothing to get away.

“You killed my friend…” the demon spoke coldly, looking towards the others again. “So I broke your love.”

“I have never heard of such a thing as a demon befriending another demon…” William said and glared at the enemy, ignoring the demon’s last words. “How come? Demons aren’t known for their feelings – quite the opposite, actually.”

“Demons are naturally dominant, making it hard for us to befriend others and finding lovers. When both parts want to decide, a fight breaks out. _Some_ demons, though, like my friend, isn’t as dominant as other, so we had a good time together. Until _you_ ended that, of course,” the demon said and smiled.

William narrowed his eyes and glanced towards the others. Eric was watching them intently, standing close to Alan and Grell. He was ready to fight if the demon made _one_ wrong move.

“What now, then?” William asked and returned his gaze to the demon. “You didn’t get the revenge you wished for.”

The demon just laughed and replied, “Oh, but you’re wrong. I _did_ get revenge. Your little reaper is broken, too far gone to come back again. And who’s the one trying to comfort him? Grell Sutcliff, not you. I’ll agree with you that this isn’t how exactly how I wanted it, but I’m satisfied no less. Your eyes tell me clearly what I need to know. You are _furious_. You long to hold him. It shouldn’t be Grell Sutcliff comforting him - it should be _you_. You wish you could kiss away your reaper’s tears, but it is impossible. Who do you think won in the end?” William glared at the demon, the hatred for it clearly showing. “Just you wait and see. Mr. Knox will be _fine_ , I promise you.”

The demon laughed quietly, watching William retreat his weapon, only to send it right back again. “How truly sad… You say that, but you can’t even use his first name. Do you even believe yourself?”

William watched the demon as he penetrated its chest with his death scythe. It had been far too easy to kill the demon. Far, far too easy. Why hadn’t the demon done anything to prevent it? Had it wanted to die? Or was it just so sure about its revenge that it could finally relax in death?

William looked for the bird, but it was nowhere to be found. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the bird had been the one to give them the letters. A bird was small and wasn’t detectable like a demon. Perfect planning. That was probably why the demon had waited all those years; he had wanted it all to be _perfect_.

William headed towards his subordinates, death scythe held tightly in his hands - the only thing preventing him from losing it.

“Grell?” he said gently and looked at the redhead.

Grell shook his head slowly and tightened his hold in Ronald. “He isn’t answering. He’s _gone_ , Will. He is breathing and all that, but it’s like his _soul_ … Gone. And his wounds… Bruises from the demon’s hands and… Will, the demon has been so rough …”

William’s eyes softened, but he refused to show them how his hope was starting to crumple. “Get him home. Be careful of his injuries.”

“Mr. Spears…” Alan spoke softly, standing up and letting Eric embrace him from behind. “Ronald will be fine again, right?”

Eric caressed his neck reassuring, not saying anything. He wasn’t satisfied at how the demon had died, but he figured that a painful death would have only made the demon’s revenge sweeter.

William stayed quiet, honestly not knowing how to answer. He had promised them that they would find Ronald before anything bad happened. They had found him, yes, but he wasn’t _saved_. And he wasn’t sure he would ever return to them.

“I don’t know,” William said softly. “I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe… Hehehe… I’m a sucker for anguish and hurt. Don’t tell me you haven’t figured that out by now.
> 
> Next chapter will be the last. Oh, how sad! Now, what’s going to happen? Hah! As if I’m going to tell you. Hehe… Anguiiiish…
> 
> I don’t really know about the William and ‘quitting work’-thing. It didn’t seem like a thing he would do. But then again… It is Ronald’s life we’re talking about. Giiih!
> 
> Mmmh… Any last words? Nope. Probably, but can’t remember them. Oh, the wonders of a short memory span. 
> 
> Until next – and last – chapter, my dears!
> 
> Yours truly


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Welcome to the last chapter! This chapter was one hell of trouble to write, so I hope it meets with your expectations. I think I rewrote it about five times. I hope they are not too out-of-character. I am a little afraid of that… So if there’s anything wrong with it, please tell me! Be it OOC-ness, typos or sentences that doesn’t make sense (I think there are a lot of those). 
> 
> Is there more..? Probably. But I’ll let you read. Enjoy (hopefully)!

A scream of horror tore through the whole infirmary, scaring several shinigami shitless. It sounded as if someone’s organs had been ripped out of their body while still awake and alive; it was frightening.

Inside one of the rooms Eric and Grell were trying to keep the cause of the screams from thrashing around too much and reopening the wounds that weren’t yet healed.

“Ronald!” Alan said, waving his hands in front of Ronald’s – _good grief_ – focused eyes. “You’re back with us, so please, calm down. Ronald! The demon is gone; he won’t ever hurt you again. Ronald! Listen to me!”

“Ronnie. Ronnie, calm down, please,” Grell begged, holding Ronald’s hands pinned to the bed. “Calm down! We can’t have you reopening your wounds. You aren’t fully healed yet and you’re still weak.”

“Kid,” Eric tried, holding Ronald’s legs down. “Ronald, listen to them. Nothing bad will happen to you here, I promise.”

Ronald just kept screaming, his throat already sounding dry, making his voice hoarse.

“Mr. Knox,” William spoke up, having watched from afar, now nearing the bed and the others. “Calm down, please.”

Ronald, surprisingly, shut up and turned his eyes to William – avoiding eye contact, though.

“I’m sorry…” the scared reaper whimpered, looking away from all of them. “I’m sorry. Please… Let go of me… I’m sorry…”

William frowned slightly, watching as Grell and Eric finally released their grip on Ronald. Why did he apologise? He hadn’t done _anything_ that needed apologising for.

When they released him he immediately drew his legs up towards his chest, breathing in a shallow intake of air. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Don’t touch me, please… I’m sorry… Please…”

“Ronald,” Alan said softly, hesitantly reaching out for his shoulder. “Why-“

“ _Don’t touch me!_ ” he shrieked and shied away from them, tears now flooding down his cheeks. “Don’t touch me… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Don’t touch me… I’m sorry…”

“Ronald…” Eric breathed, looking at the mumbling boy. He turned a desperate glance towards William. What should they do?

“I’m sorry…” Ronald kept whispering. “Please, just let me die… Make it all stop…” The room’s occupants could only stare exasperated at Ronald. Let him die?

“No, Ronald,” Alan said softly, looking at the crying reaper with pained eyes. “We won’t let you die.”

William kept quiet. At Ronald’s awakening his hopes had raised, but now… He sighed and looked at Ronald. Now, he began to doubt his own words to the demon. The nurses quickly came inside the room and gave something to Ronald to calm him down, though they had to get Eric and Grell to hold him down again before they could give him the sedatives; he started thrashing again as soon as they neared him. Not much time went by before he stopped moving, now only crying silently.

“To prevent him from getting worse, kindly refrain from touching him unless strictly necessary,” the head nurse said, gazing seriously at them. “Mr. Knox has been through a lot and needs peaceful surroundings where he won’t get stressed. You’re more than welcome to talk quietly to him, like you have done these past days. I believe your words helped him back to us. The sedative I gave him will wear off in a few hours. I’ll be back by then to give him a new dose and take a look at him. Be careful with him, understand?”

“We understand,” William spoke for all of them. The nurse nodded and left them alone in the room.

While Alan and Grell spoke reassuring words to Ronald, William thought back to when they had found him.

It had upset them all greatly to find Ronald lie in the demon’s lap, hands chained to the wall, naked and unresponsive. He hadn’t even seemed to mind the demon whose hand had been playing with his hair.

While William had taken care of the demon, Grell had managed to break the hand cuffs holding Ronald captive. It had not been as easy as one would think, seeing that they weren’t made by humans but demons, making them harder to break.

Before heading to the infirmary they had found Ronald’s clothes and death scythe, which the demon had taken together with Ronald that day, long time ago. His glasses, though, had been nowhere to find, but at least it hadn’t been the death scythe. That would mean some random human or _demon_ could have found it, and that would have been terrible, given that a death scythe is the only weapon known to have the ability to kill a reaper.

In the room’s darkness they hadn’t had a chance to get a full view of Ronald’s injuries, but in the light of the infirmary they had seen more than enough. The head nurse had also given them the complete damage-report after she had gotten a look at him.

Ronald had suffered a blow to the head, probably from the fight with the demon when he had been captured. Blood from the wound had made his usually soft and thick blond and black hair dirty and sticky.

His neck had been covered in bite marks and kiss marks, while his torso and arms had been full of bruise and scratches, either from nails or a thin knife. Or both. The bruises had been worst on his hips where he had been different nuances of blue, yellow, green and lilac. He had had a wound in his stomach, one of the worst injuries together with the head. His wrists had had fiery red marks from the hand cuffs and his palms had had scratches, too, probably from Ronald’s own nails.

His legs had had dried blood on them mixed with some white substance – the demon’s semen. Even Ronald’s own. The blood had been from the demon entering him roughly and unprepared.

Besides all _that_ , Ronald had had internal injuries, again from the demon’s abuse of him. Not to forget the mental scars he would get from this.

 _Oh_ , the demon hadn’t suffered enough. Doing all this to Ronald, only to die a mostly painless death…

William clenched his hands unconsciously, gaze trailing over to Ronald. Ronald who had been in a daze ever since they had found him, having just awoken now. _Two days_ after they brought him here.

William hadn’t slept this whole time, having been too worried about Ronald never waking up.

But now, his hopes had risen slightly. But even though he was finally awake, he wasn’t _saved_. Not yet. This whole thing might have been too much for him. He had said himself he wanted to die and end it all. How it _pained_ William to hear those words spoken by his subordinate, the person he cherished more than anyone else.

He sighed softly and raised his hands to massage his temples. He still had loads of overwork to finish, no thanks to the higher ups. It had been their punishment.

William had returned shortly to his own office after he and the others had handed Ronald over to the nurses, only to be met by the higher ups who had, by the looks of it, read all of the letters still scattered on William’s desk. Needless to say, they had figured out something had been wrong. But missing work was missing work, so the punishment had been hours of overwork for one month to make up for what they had missed and, of course, as a warning to never do it again or the consequences would be severe. The higher ups didn’t tolerate slack, no matter what. They had been sorry to hear about Ronald, though, and had wished him a quick recovery.

William sighed and folded his arms, looking at Ronald and the others. Eric had joined the two others in talking to Ronald. They talked about nothing in particular, just like how much work they were going to do the next many days and how much of a _pain_ it would be to do.

Like they weren’t used to it by now, with all the overtime William gave them when they misbehaved… Which they tended to do quite often.

He sighed softly to himself, drawing the others’ attention for a short moment.

“You look tired, Mr. Spears,” Alan noted with a slight frown. “Maybe you should try to get some proper sleep now that things seem to be going well again. You haven’t slept properly ever since Ronald was taken captive, have you?”

William looked at his three subordinates and raised an eyebrow. “Whether I sleep well or not is none of your concern. Besides, there’s work that needs to be done. There’s no time for sleep. When the nurse comes back to tend to Mr. Knox, you’ll all head back to the office and start working. We are behind in our schedule.”

Eric rolled his eyes and Grell grimaced. Alan just returned his gaze to Ronald, still frowning. William might be a reaper and could endure much less sleep than humans, but still…

He sighed. Stubborn supervisor.

Ronald began answering them a week after he had awakened, carefully and quietly, as if afraid of them scolding him or hurting him in some way. He was a far cry from the social young reaper he had been before the demon had gotten hold of him. And while he had begun talking with Alan, Eric and Grell, he would shut up like an oyster every time William was around and refused to look at him. Sometimes he even began to cry.

It hurt. It hurt more than William would have ever thought it would, and it hurt more than he would ever show the others. He just kept his stoic attitude and only visited Ronald when he was asleep or heavily sedated due to another panic attack.

Damn that demon. _Damn him to Hell_.

Ronald would wake up shaking and crying, screaming and thrashing countless times in the night due to a nightmare.

It hurt William to see him like that. Unable to sleep through the night with all those nightmares, refusing the touch of everyone and just being a plain mess.

The only good thing was that his wounds were almost healed. But he was still weak and his mental state didn’t help the healing-progress. The nurses took good care of him, though, and the three other idiots in William’s division were a great help. It was probably because of them that Ronald had begun talking again. William though, could do no more than just sit at Ronald’s bedside in the night, filling out reports and keeping an eye on the youth. And when Ronald would wake up because of those horrifying nightmares, William would be sent outside the room as the younger couldn’t calm down with him around.

Was it the demon’s fault? Had it said something to Ronald while he was there that made him afraid of William? Or whatever made him react in such a way whenever William was near. Ronald hadn’t spoken of his time with the demon. Every time they tried to approach the topic he would get silent, refusing to answer them.

The demon really _had_ died too easily. 

* * *

 

It took a whole month before Ronald was well enough to work. And with ‘well’ it meant that he insisted, not taking no for an answer.

William watched Ronald through the window, seeing him laugh at something Eric said.

He was back, yes, laughing and smiling, partying as never before. But the smiles didn’t hide the pain in his eyes nor did it bring back the light. Although the physical wounds were long gone, the mental ones remained and would be there forever as scars.

Ronald still didn’t like talking of the time with the demon, pushing all thoughts of it away by partying and working. And he still didn’t like being near William. Each time he had work to hand over to William, he would get one of the others to do it or do it himself when William was away from the office. And when he was forced to enter William’s office he would keep his gaze low, not looking at him. He would place the reports on his desk and hurry out again without saying a word.

William sighed and leaned back in his chair, gazing at Ronald. He had to stop avoiding him. His gaze shifted to Alan who was looking content with watching Eric and Ronald joke around, occasionally reminding them that they were at work and not a kindergarten.

He smiled slightly while wondering why he had been given this bunch of disobedient and rude reapers. But then again, although they were all idiots, they were also strong and clever. They all had minor problems, yes, but they would get through it together, no matter how sappy that might sound.

For once ignoring Grell who was doing absolutely nothing as per usual, he focused his gaze on Ronald. When the younger had to hand him his work, they would get a talk. He wouldn’t leave the room once, not even to get coffee, so Ronald couldn’t avoid him. And if the others dared to take the reports for him…

After a couple of hours Ronald came into his office, head lowered as usually. He laid the paper on William’s desk, but before he could hurry out a certain someone’s scythe extended and held the door closed.

“Mr. Knox,” William said calmly and gestured to the chair opposite of him. “Sit down, please. I would like to have a word with you.”

He watched Ronald, seeing no other way, sit down. He was fidgeting and looking everywhere but on William.

“Mr. Knox,” he said slowly and leaned backward in his chair. “We need to figure out what to do. The nurses have requested a therapist for you, haven’t they?” A nod of confirmation.

“Why haven’t you accepted? It would help you greatly. You can’t go on like this.”

“I don’t need it…” Ronald said slowly. “I’m fine, really. I-“ “You are not in any way ‘fine’,” William said sternly. “I have been told that you occasionally wake up from nightmares in the night and that you don’t like being alone. Therefore, you tend to stay overnight at Mr. Humphries’ and Mr. Slingby’s. Even Sutcliff’s. And you suffer from panic-attacks from time to time, too. So don’t tell me you’re fine when clearly, you are not.”

“I keep remembering it…” Ronald whispered while fidgeting, looking down. “All the things he said to me and… And…” He broke off with a strangled sob.

“What did he say to you?” William asked softly, watching the younger.

“It doesn’t matter…” Ronald said.

“Talk. It won’t help to keep quiet about it. In the end it will do you no good. You might not want to talk with a therapist, but then at least talk to me. That’s what I’m here for. I’m your supervisor and you have been avoiding me for the past month and a half. An officer and a supervisor are supposed to be capable of communicating with each other, so this won’t do.”

“I can’t…” Ronald struggled to say. “It’s… I…”

“I’m not saying you have to talk about the whole thing right now,” William said gently. “Just a bit. But no matter what, you need to talk about this. I know it’s hard for yo-“

“You do, huh?” Ronald said quietly. “You don’t know _anything_. I waited for you to come and save me, but you didn’t… No one did! And I hear everyone whisper about me a soon as they think I cannot hear them. And they are right!” He let out a sob, covering his mouth with his hand as tears slid down his cheeks. “It’s my own fault…” His voice had lowered to a whisper, cracking slightly at the last words.

“You are _not_ at fault, Mr. Knox. Do not blame yourself. If anyone is at fault, it’s me. I didn’t save you in time. It’s because of me that all this happened.”

“No. No, it’s not,” Ronald whispered.

“Yes, it is. It’s my fault all this started. _I_ killed the other demon that time and _I_ chose not to take his warning seriously. I’m sorry.

"But I need you to talk to me.”

Ronald clenched his hands and tried to keep the tears away from falling anew. How could he tell William? He would be disgusted. He smiled grimly. Hell, he probably already was, but had to confront him because of their work.

Work. It always came down to work when dealing with William, didn’t it?

“Mr. Knox?”

It always did. And how could William ever love him, knowing what he had done? William despised demons more than anything, and that was a well-known fact. And Ronald had been _pleasured_ by one of those hated beings.

“Mr. Knox, are you getting unwell?” William asked, taking the blond’s silence as a bad thing. “Mr. Kno-“

“How will I ever be okay after this? I let the demon-“

“I will repeat myself: You are not at fault, Mr. Knox. You couldn’t do anything in your weakened state.”

“I _am_ at fault!” Ronald cried. “How can I not be? I let the demon touch me and I _enjoyed_ it!” Good. Now he had said it. William would hate him forever. He couldn’t bear that thought.

William’s eyes softened. “That’s what this is about? The demon forced you to feel pleasure?”

“I-“ Ronald began, but his voice broke. He let out a sob and rose slowly. “I-I will go. Let me go.”

“No,” William said firmly. “I won’t.”

“William,” Ronald begged and turned to look at him, tears in his eyes. “Please! Let me out! I-I can’t-” The door opened and Alan peeped in. “Mr. Spears? What’s all this commoti-”

“Stay out,” William ordered and turned a glare at Alan. Alan closed the door but not before sending William a reproachful look, leaving them alone again.

“ _Please_ ,” Ronald cried and looked at William. “I-“ His voice died when William stood up and strode towards him, stopping only a few steps away from him. Ronald whimpered and took a careful step backwards.

“You didn’t like it, did you?” William said quietly. “You wouldn’t ever let the demon do that to you again, would you?”

“Of course not…” Ronald whimpered again.

“Then what’s the problem?” William asked. “The demon forced himself upon you. You didn’t do it of your own free will. Then why are you so ashamed of yourself?”

Ronald looked up, opening his mouth to say something, but no words left him. Tears, though, slid down his cheeks in a steady rhythm.

William sighed and reached out to wipe the tears away, but Ronald shied away with an alarmed cry.

“Calm down. I won’t do anything you wouldn’t want me to,” William said softly and slowly reached out again. Ronald was shaking like a leaf and whimpering, but he stayed still and let William wipe away his tears with a gentle hand.

“See,” William said quietly and withdrew his hand, taking a few steps backwards to let Ronald breathe. He knew this affected Ronald greatly, but this was also important. Ronald needed someone to go to when things got worse. Parties wouldn’t help him overcome it. “I didn’t hurt you. And I will never hurt you.”

“Of course you would say that…” Ronald whispered. “He… _He_ said that too…”

“ _He_ was a demon. Demons are known for lying and cheating,” William spoke and crossed his arms.

Ronald hugged himself and stepped back until his back hit the wall, sliding down and staying there.

William looked at him and let out a soft sigh. He really didn’t know what to do. He knew some demons liked to attack reapers only for the pleasure of breaking them and tormenting them, mentally and physically. Their victims often suffered from some kind of fear afterwards, but William only knew they were sent to a therapist. He hadn’t tried being the one to console a victim and he hadn’t really known someone who had been sexually assaulted by a demon. He didn’t even know what the therapists talked with the victims about.

“Mr. Knox,” he said and took a few steps towards him, crouching down in front of him, approximately with a meter distance between them. “You haven’t spoken with anybody about this whole ordeal, have you?”

Ronald shook his head slowly.

“You have to. Talk to me. I won’t judge you,” William said. “It’s either me or a therapist. I won’t let one of my officers suffer through this alone.”

“You’ll hate me…” Ronald whimpered and finally locked teary eyes with William’s, all the pain now evident in his eyes. “I don’t want you to hate me…”

William frowned slightly. “Why should I hate you?”

“I am _dirty_. The demon did all this to me and I _let_ it! How can you not hate me? I _let_ our enemy do this!” the blond cried. “I’m better off dead… If only the demon-“

“Don’t you _dare_ speak that way of yourself,” William said with a soft growl, making Ronald flinch and whimper again. “I don’t hate you and I never would. And you never _let_ the demon take you. Whatever the demon said to you is all _lies_.”

“I don’t want to talk about it…” Ronald whispered and drew his legs up to his chest.

William eyed the distraught reaper in front of him and knew that one of his panic-attacks might be approaching. So he did the first thing that came to mind; he spread out his arms and said: “I am nothing like that demon and I will never hurt you. Let me show you. Lay your arms around me. I won’t embrace you back unless you let me. _Trust me_.”

Ronald looked wide-eyed at William. Did his stoic and cold supervisor just offer him a _hug_? Had he been himself, he would have laughed hard at the sight of seeing William with his arms spread out like that. Now, though, he eyed William cautiously. Did he dare do it? He wanted the comfort from William so _badly_. But what if William only wanted to take advantage of him?

 _No_. He would never do that. Ronald had to trust him. William meant this seriously. If not, not even his own superiors could make him do what he was doing now. He had known William in a long time and had never had a reason to doubt him.

Ronald moved a bit forward but hesitated just as he was in front of the other. What if..? _No_. He really wanted someone to comfort him; tell him everything would be alright and he had done nothing wrong. If that someone could be William… Then why did he hesitate?

Ronald took a deep, steadying breath and slowly, hesitantly, let his arms around William’s waist, leaning into him and resting his head on his chest. How many times hadn’t he wished for something as simple as this? And now, when it finally happened, he was shaking violently out of fear. But William kept his words; he stayed with his arms spread out, sitting as still as Ronald was shaking.

Ronald let out a loud sob and buried his face in William’s chest, gripping his jacket tightly. “I-I… I’m f-fine.”

William smiled gently as he heard the blond’s words, slowly wrapping his arms around Ronald. Ronald, though, let out a whimper at the movement and William quickly removed them again.

“N-no…” Ronald shook his head. “I sa-said I am fine.”

“Are you sure?” William asked quietly. At Ronald’s nod he once again placed his arms around the shaking youth, holding him securely in his arms. Ronald let out a strangled sob and his hold in William’s jacked tightened, now beginning to cry harder.

William just let him and moved his hand to Ronald’s hair when said person placed his head between William’s shoulder blades, warm tears quickly wetting his clothes.

He didn’t mind, though. He had gotten Ronald to talk with him _and_ embrace him. It was far better than he would have dared to hope. Ronald was still shaking violently in his hold, but at least he didn’t shy away or whimper when he touched his hair.

Ronald kept crying for minutes and William just ran a reassuring hand trough his hair, saying nothing – simply letting him cry his heart out.

How many nights hadn’t he cried himself to sleep because of the memories of the demon? William couldn’t stand the thought of the demon touching Ronald, but he kept calm for Ronald’s sake, even though he was inwardly burning with hatred.

“H-he told me you’d ha-hate me…” Ronald suddenly whispered when he had calmed down a bit. “That you’d never l-look at me a-again… He s-said it was my own fault… Wi-William, he said such awful things! I-I can’t even…”

“It’s okay…” William spoke softly as Ronald started crying again. “It’s okay. I would never hate you for something you couldn’t control. I hate the _demon_ , not you. _Never_ you. None of what happened was your fault.”

“O-okay…” Ronald murmured and let out a soft breath. William withdrew slightly from the embrace so he could look Ronald in the eyes. He kept an arm around his middle as he gentle wiped Ronald’s tears away.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you ever again,” he spoke softly. “I’ll make sure you get through this. I-…” He paused. Hell, why not just say it? He had to make Ronald comfortable around him and make him trust him. “I… Like you.”

Ronald started wide-eyed at him. “Wh-what?”

“You heard me,” William said sternly and wiped away more tears from the other’s cheek. Then he paused in his movements when he saw the small smile on Ronald’s lips. The first real smile he had seen on the other ever since the incident with the demon.

His eyes, too, looked more hopeful than ever, and a bit of the light seemed to have returned in them.

“I… I like you, too,” Ronald said softly.

They sat in silence for some minutes, before Ronald spoke up again.

“Are you going to be like this? This sentimental, I mean.”

“Don’t get used to it,” William scoffed, though he smiled softly as Ronald also did so.

He had been right, after all. Ronald would be _fine_ again. It would take time, obviously. Ronald would most likely be better after this, but still not good. It could take years before he felt totally comfortable around them again. But most important, he _would_ be, given time.

Everything really was about time, wasn’t it?

“Another thing…” Ronald said, resting his head between William’s shoulder blades again.

“Mh?” William murmured.

“Call me Ronald. Please?”

William sighed. “Fine. _Ronald_.” He felt the other’s smile on his skin. “Honestly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sappy, sappy, sappy, sappy.
> 
> I hope you liked it.
> 
> Anyway, for this story there are... two written spinoffs and one third and last I've had in mind for a long, long time and still plan to write. One day. The first one is about snow and I'll upload it in a couple of days, I think, so keep an eye out for it.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading this story! It makes me really happy :) I hope you will continue to read the stories I upload in the future. 
> 
> Until next story!
> 
> (Once again, ignore the Note underneath this one, if it also appears with you. I don't know why it fucks up.)

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think in a review, if that's what it's called here! Also, do point out every mistake you see. If you have any tips or anything, do not hesitate to tell me. I do not care about flamers. They'll be used to burn my homework and other schoolwork. So… Actually. Send flamers.  
> I am not sure a mere knife can block a death scythe, but... Oh well.  
> And, and, and, I am afraid Ronald seems a bit weak. Mmmh… Don't like that. Sigh.  
> Anyways! I hope you enjoyed the prologue.  
> Till next time!


End file.
